Halfway Up the Learning Curve,
by Macx
Summary: Breaking All the Rules. It's not that he doesn't like Nick, but hanging around a Grimm involves danger. Because trouble seems to find Nick wherever he goes.
1. Chapter 1

It had been a bad idea. A really bad idea. He had told the Grimm so again and again, and look where they were.

In trouble.

Up to their eyebrows.

Trou-ble!

Because it had been a really bad idea.

Eddie Monroe scanned the woods around them, looking, sniffing, listening, for anything out of the ordinary. Human or non-human.

The woods were quiet. Fog hung heavily between the moss-covered trees. Steady droplets were a soft background sound, the drip-drip almost soothing. The moss cushioned sound, the fog softened the air. Everything was quiet. Almost beautifully mystical. Aside from the critters that normally inhabited the woods, nothing else was here.

It was as if the attack hadn't happened, like it had been a dream. Actually, a nightmare. Come and gone. Leaving pain and devastation behind.

And no one would come looking for them any time soon.

Eddie sighed and moved noiselessly back to the overhang. It had been created by a tall tree crashing down many years ago, roots tearing out of the ground and sticking into the air. Moss and crawlers had covered the looming roots, hanging like a curtain in front of a doorway. The tree had torn out soft earth and now it was like a nest, moderately dry, hidden from plain sight, and reasonably warm.

Not that he actually felt cold. His system was too well adjusted for that.

Someone who wasn't adjusted was his companion.

Eddie almost snorted a laugh.

Companion! A Grimm!

Then again, what was it they were? Partners? Colleagues? Well, hardly that. Nick came to him for help.

"If I had anyone else I could talk to about this stuff…"

Eddie remembered the exasperation like it had been yesterday. No, he hadn't complained about being a walking Grimm library. He had willingly let the other man inside.

And then things changed when Nick came for the occasional beer in the evening, alternatively a coffee and bagel in the morning. The man was costing him money! Then again, it was nice to have someone around sometimes. Being a reclusive, reformed blutbad had its disadvantages. Not that Eddie had run with a pack ever before. He only knew his family and even they, after the young had grown up, weren't all too keen on crowds.

Eddie had no clue why Nick stuck around. A Grimm was a hunter. Eddie's kind was the enemy – well, if they stepped out of line. They were the peacekeepers between creature world and humanity. Without Grimms both sides would be at each other's throats and Eddie didn't want to place any bets on what side might be the winner; in his opinion it was a no win situation. An open feud would destroy both communities. It was bad enough that the creature world was fractured and unstable through feuds, rivalries and questionable alliances. They didn't need a war.

And then there was the fact that Nick Burckhardt was far from what he had expected him to be. Eddie had never met a Grimm – he wouldn't be alive today if Auntie Marie had come by his place – and the stories were… terrifying. A horror scenario. Nightmares told to the children to keep them in line. His grandfather had been killed by Grimms. Eddie had never known him, but the stories told by his family when he was just a pup had been scary. Granddad had been the embodiment of the Big Bad Wolf.

So Grimms had been terrible creatures for Eddie all his childhood, and as an adult he had found a way to appease the inner beast and live hidden among humans.

But Nick had been so different from the tales. Innocent, sure. He hadn't known who and what he was back then. Still, later he hadn't really changed. He was still looking for a way to handle what his heritage told him to do - be a Grimm - and his job as a police officer.

It had been strange to sit in the living room of his home, talk to the other man, listen to the moral conflicts he experienced, and actually understanding where he came from. Eddie truly understood and because Nick tried to be different, tried not to go out and simply kill the non-humans - he was different. Maybe he was a new kind of Grimm; maybe he was an aberration.

Eddie slid between the lichen and moss hanging from the tree roots, his eyes adjusting to the gloom with ease. It smelled of Nick in here. Mixed with pain and fear and blood. The blood was tickling his senses, but he hadn't felt the urge to rip something apart just yet.

Pilates is your friend, he recited in his head. Rigorous life-style, thank you!

Nick hadn't moved much. He lay curled up, on his side, arms wrapped around his abdomen, face pale and sweaty and contorted in pain. His dark hair was messy, sweaty. It hung into his eyes. The wound on his shoulder was covered by his jacket, but the jagged, torn edges of the fabric showed stains of blood.

Sharp, strong teeth. A second of inattentiveness. And trouble had found them.

Eddie knew he should have been able to smell the other, but he hadn't, which was troublesome. Only when it had launched himself at them had he become aware of the creature.

And the more frightening aspect had been the moment of realization that not the Grimm but the blutbad had been the target. That had truly shaken the wolf. This thing hunted others; his kind. Eddie momentarily felt a curl of unease, close to fear, then pushed it away.

He had been the target. Nick had gotten hurt.

The creature – two arms, two legs, fangs, extended jaws, really, really fast! – had bitten him in the shoulder, tearing a very deep wound, and then fled when the Grimm had shot at it. Nick's aim hadn't really been off; he could have killed it. He had simply chased it away.

Stupid cop training! Eddie raged silently.

Grimms were supposed to be killers. Nick had to learn that his life depended on his instincts.

Then again, had the instinct been to kill or to preserve a life?

Eddie sighed as he crouched down beside the other man, taking in the feverish face, the deep lines of pain. Poison, he had realized. Fast acting, agonizing, but apparently not lethal or Nick would be dead by now. The wound was inflamed, he saw when he carefully lifted the jacket's edge. But no longer bleeding.

He sighed again.

Nick was an enigma. A Grimm who didn't hunt. A Grimm who tried to reason and talk peace. A Grimm who relied very heavily on his police training. A Grimm who had partnered up with a wolf.

Oh, he was probably going to be the laughing stock of so many fireside tales. Not that blutbaden really mingled. Territorial feuds were ugly and the last time he had seen his family, the bristling and hackles-rising had been ever-present. Once the young left they were no longer welcome, aside from a visit to pay respect to an alpha. Eddie was far from respectful and he really didn't want another get-together like the last time, years ago. That had been… really ugly.

"Eddie?"

The voice was weak, laced with pain, but a core of strength came through. Eddie looked into the too-bright eyes.

"Nothing out there," he told the injured man. "Nothing but fog."

They were deep in the woods. Nick's cell phone was trashed, but at least they had the backpack's contents, which was quite helpful. Food, water, emergency kit and blankets. And Eddie had two days to figure out how to get them out of this mess. Because whatever had attacked them – him – was still out there, even if he couldn't smell it.

He dug through the backpack and opened the water bottle, giving some of it to Nick. The younger man drank eagerly, then sank back with a groan. Eddie didn't have to ask how bad it was; he could see and smell it. It was almost like the pain was a living thing of its own, that he could feel it.

Nick clenched his teeth, jaw muscles working, and a soft groan escaped his suddenly bloodless lips. He curled up again, riding out another wave.

"It was after me," Eddie murmured when the wave had passed.

The blurry eyes shot him a question.

"You were in the way. It was coming for me. It got you because…"

Because Nick had been stupid. Cop instincts. Protect the innocent. Eddie flexed his fingers, feeling claw tips, and he cursed his failing control.

"I'm a cop, Eddie," Nick whispered.

"You're a Grimm! Grimms don't throw themselves between a blutbad and whatever that thing is!"

"I'm a cop," the Grimm repeated doggedly. "First and foremost. I protect. I'm not a hunter. I'm not running around looking for your kind and killing them in cold blood!"

And he wasn't trained either. He had still a long way to go. Thrown into a game he didn't yet understand.

Eddie sat back, looking at Nick, wondering how come he was now involved in this mess.

Because of the missing girls, because one of his own kind had stepped out of line, because Nick had latched onto him for help and told him he trusted him!

That had thrown him. It still did.

Grimms were loners. Like blutbaden. They came together for procreation and that was that. And they didn't really get old. Marie Kessler had lived a lot longer than Eddie would have given her credit for, and if not for the cancer, she might have gone on for a few more years.

Nick was innocent. He was vulnerable. And too damn honorable!

"You can't be a Grimm and a cop," he growled, leaning his back against the dirt wall.

"Who says so?"

Eddie gave him an exasperated look. "You're a Grimm!"

"So you keep telling me. Being a Grimm doesn't come with a handbook! I don't know what I'm supposed to do!"

"Kill the bad boys of the creature world."

"In cold blood?"

He looked into the pained eyes. "It's what you Grimms do."

"It's not what I do, Eddie."

"Things will be after you. Reapers aren't the fun kind. They'll cut your head off, end of story!"

"I'm not going to start hunting! Forget it. I have a job and if someone, something, threatens the people I've sworn to protect, I'll act accordingly."

Nick screwed his eyes shut and hissed, fingers clenching into the messy fabric of his shirt as the pain came back.

"You didn't even try to shoot that thing," the wolf grumbled.

"I don't kill in cold blood."

"It was out to kill you!"

"No, it was after you. I did what I had to do."

Eddie scrubbed a hand over his face. Annoyance, exasperation, anger and a grain of understanding coursed through him.

"You won't live very long if you keep doing this," he muttered.

Nick was silent, his eyes a little clearer, but still in pain. Finally, "It's how I do it."

Eddie shook his head, then let it fall against the dirt wall behind him. Of course it was how he did it! And because he did it his own way they were now stuck in the middle of nowhere, Nick was injured, and Eddie had been upgraded to personal bodyguard.

Yeah, he was the laughing stock. Any decent blutbad would take the opportunity and kill the Grimm. Rip out his throat, make him pay for what his ancestors and kin had done. But Eddie was a reformed wolf. And he kinda liked the guy. A lot.

He closed his eyes. This was getting worse and worse!

A soft moan had him alert and the suppressed cry made him lurch over to where Nick was fighting another surge, one that was a lot worse than before. One hand clawed at the bite, blood slicking the pale digits, and the scent hit Eddie's nose like a tidal wave. Blood and the sharp, acidic smell of the poison. Talons broke through and his canines lengthened, eyes turning red. He fought the instinct, pushing the wolf back, and forced Nick's hand away from the injury.

The young detective cried out when Eddie had to apply more force, but he was too weak and simply slumped back, panting, eyes dilated.

"Hurts," he managed. "God, it hurts!"

And then the cramps struck once more. Eddie had to use a lot more strength than he would have thought to keep the other man from doing himself even more harm as he almost convulsed.

Nick finally collapsed, a limp weight resting against his thighs. His breathing was shallow, the skin cool and damp to the touch. Eddie didn't like it; not one bit.

Something whispered past outside and he fluidly moved into a crouch, muscles tense. It sounded like a slither, dragging over the mossy ground, the leaves whispering. The hanging moss veil moved like in a breeze. It still smelled of the forest, but Eddie's hackles rose and his wolf side was by now pushing forward.

Something was out there.

Something was looking for them.

Something…

… shot through the opening and right at him.

The blutbad had a second to realize he was in trouble, then he was thrown back against the wall with a painful thud. A thick, rope-like vine grabbed his ankles, immobilizing his feet, another made a run for his wrists. He slashed at it with sharp claws and managed a few hits, then a new attack from above had him completely immobile. He howled in anger, struggling hard, fangs completely out and his face completely wolf now. If the vines hadn't kept him tied, he might even have been able to finish a complete morph.

And then the creature stood before him, green and brown and black and looking like a walking tree. Black eyes, a face barely human, the skin overgrown with moss and lichen and even grass. It hissed, baring pointy teeth that spoke of a predator.

There was a loud click and Eddie's head whipped around to stare at his injured friend.

Nick was standing. He was standing! Unsteadily, sure, but he was upright. And he was aiming his service weapon at the intruder, only a slight tremor speaking of his current state. Startling clear eyes, hard and unyielding, were fixated on the moss thing.

"Let him go."

The voice chilled the blutbad. This wasn't Nick. This was the Grimm. This was more than a police officer protecting him. This was a Grimm giving a final warning.

The moss creature rumbled softly, turning to face the Grimm.

"I said: let him go," Nick repeated.

Damn if the man wasn't terrifying. Eddie wanted to run right now. Far, far away. As it was, he was rather well wrapped-up. Where was the man who had been poisoned and riding out waves of pain? How could he even stand?

And then Eddie remembered what Nick had told him about Aunt Marie, about her last fight, how she had killed one of the guys sent to finish her. She had finished him.  
>Grimms…<p>

"He is your enemy, Grimm," the moss thing said.

"He is my friend."

"Blutbaden are violent, terrible things. You are their natural enemy. He won't think twice about selling you out to his kind."

"He hasn't killed me yet."

And Eddie had had the chance. With Nick down for the count, for sure. And before, too. Innocent and not yet truly aware of his potential, the young Grimm was easy prey.

He hadn't, though. Because Nick had told him he trusted him. It had blindsided the wolf, it had made him step back in confusion and re-examine everything. And he had found that being an unconventional, reformed wolf might work in a partnership with an unconventional Grimm.

Maybe.

"You, on the other hand," Nick went on coldly, "bit me. You poisoned me."

"It was a mistake I regret."

"What are you?"

The gun never wavered, the eyes never lost their coldness.

"I am the forest."

Eddie blinked. Huhwhatthef…? What?

"My kind, like the Mellifer, protects. Grimms are not our enemy. We always existed in harmony. Your aunt was aware of us and never killed one of my kind. In turn we assisted."

"By attacking my friend?"

The moss creature rumbled a little. "Blutbaden are never friends."

"Neither are jagerbar, but I didn't kill any of them either."

One more point for Nick. Eddie knew the story and he had been surprised to hear there had been survivors. Actually, all of them had survived. He hadn't shot at the kids at all. The family was still together and Eddie had heard rumors that Frank Rabe had sworn to repay Nick his favor one day, if he needed it. Nick had brushed it off and gone about his police work as if nothing had ever happened.

Something had, though. He had a jagerbar indebted to him. He had made a point, he had been noticed.

"Please let him go," Nick repeated. "Eddie won't harm me."

So much trust. And somehow Eddie couldn't see himself laying a paw on the man. Trust or no trust.

"He is a violent creature," the moss thing said. "A blutbad."

"And he's my blutbad, I trust him."

There. Those words. Spoken out loud. Eddie stared at the Grimm, mesmerized. Somewhere in his frazzled mind he howled at the proprietary 'my blutbad', but that was drowned out by the confusion.

No one had ever trusted him before. No one. No one had staked a claim on his loyalty, his integrity…

The moss creature cocked its head. "I made a mistake harming you, Grimm. Please allow me to help."

Nick stepped back as one of the vines approached, his step a little unsteady. Eddie tensed, wanting out, wanting to help. Wanting to protect.

Damn, his instincts were really completely off with this guy. Why else had he attacked him that very first time they met and then offered him a beer? He had invited a Grimm into his home!

Why?

Morbid curiosity?

Grandfather would probably turn in his grave!

Of course he had been curious. He had looked into the wide, terrified eyes, listened to the rapid beat of the younger man's heart, and he had dared to joke while it could turn out to be just a clever ruse to catch him unawares. But everything had pointed at a young, inexperienced Grimm. A very determined one, too. Eddie had been strangely drawn to that and he had followed his instincts which, for the first time, weren't screaming blood and gore and rage at him.

The inner wolf had been interested.

"I can administer an antidote, Grimm," Eddie heard the creature say. "I mean no harm."

"Then let him go," Nick demanded, a light rasp in his voice.

Shit, Eddie thought. Whatever Grimm magic was running through Nick's system, it was wearing off. Fast.

The creature looked at Eddie. "Attack me and you will die," it promised darkly.

Then the vines fell away and Eddie was free. For a whole second nothing happened, like a weird kind of Mexican stand-off, then Nick's breathing stuttered a little. It was the only warning Eddie got. He was just fast enough to cushion Nick's fall as the younger man collapsed. He was still holding on to the gun and he raised it feebly when the vines approached, but Eddie laid a hand over the white-knuckled grip.

"Thanks," he murmured in a low voice.

Nick released the hold on the gun, fading fast now.

The forest creature watched them, then the vine pushed under the torn jacket and Nick winced, then almost twisted out of Eddie's hold when it did something. He swallowed a scream. Eddie nearly jumped at the enemy to tear out its throat.

But then it was over and Nick became limp. He was trembling, semi-aware, almost unconscious. Eddie gingerly removed the gun.

"Tread lightly, wolf," the forest creature said, voice cold. "He trusts you. Abuse the trust, be responsible for his death, and we will hunt you down."

"What is it to you?" Eddie snarled, baring fangs.

"We protect. We harmonize with the Grimms. Marie knew it and she was always welcome among the forest. She died too soon, without passing on her knowledge to her heir. He has to learn faster than others."

The vines had by now disappeared out of the underground hole.

"A Grimm's instincts are sharp and sure. So I trust his that you are a friend, that he can trust you. Should you betray him, the forest will make you pay."

Eddie rumbled. Blutbaden didn't like to be threatened.

Like a wraith, the creature disappeared.

He sat in the now once again silent burrow, holding Nick in his arms, a limp weight, completely at his mercy. Eddie was still very much wolf at the moment, the talons sharp and dangerous, brushing harmlessly over the clothes that were no protection for Nick at all. The smell of blood, now free of the acidic poison, held no lure for him. At least not of the violent-tear-him-apart-eat-him kind.

Trust.

It was all about trust.

Peeling back the jacket, Eddie checked the bite wound and found that it was covered in a kind of clear slime. The infection seemed to have disappeared and the coating was like glue, and completely odorless.

"Now what?" he murmured, settling back, Nick still protectively close to him.

Through the vines he saw that night was falling and he wouldn't risk running around the forest with an injured Grimm in the middle of the night.

"Looks like we're spending the night," he sighed.

tbc...


	2. Chapter 2

Nick woke in an unfamiliar environment. The first thing he noticed as his senses cleared – rather more quickly than they normally should, given his condition – was that he lay on a bed. It was light outside. He was warm. And stripped of his clothes. Someone had dressed him in pajama pants that were a little too long and a shirt that wasn't his.

He moved and felt a slight twinge from his shoulder. He carefully palpated the bite injury, but aside from a sting no pain threatened. He peeled back the shirt and found healing skin, scabbed over, as if it had been a week since the bite.

Huh.

He unsteadily got out of bed and left the room, glad to find a bathroom near-by. Feeling more human with every step he took the stairs one at the time and finally recognized the house.  
>Monroe's.<p>

"What are you doing down here?"

The sharp voice resulted in a flare of defensive energy and Nick whirled around. He had instinctively grabbed the closest thing to a weapon he could find – an ancient walking stick that had been leaning against one wall – holding it defensively.

"Geez, Nick!"

Eddie. It was Eddie. Holding up both hands in an appeasing, calming gesture, the wolf warily watched Nick, ready to defend himself. He was wearing loose sweat pants, an old, faded blue shirt and had thrown an equally faded flannel shirt on over that.

Adrenaline drained out of Nick's blood and he fell hard against the wall, shaky and out of breath all of a sudden.

"Sorry," he managed, trembling. "You surprised me."

"Looks like those instincts are finally coming online."

Nick gave him a tired half-smile and let Eddie take the stick away from him.

"Coffee?" the blutbad asked non-chalantly, as if a Grimm hadn't just nearly brained him.

"Sounds great."

When he sank into the couch, mug clutched in his hands, Nick finally asked the question: "How did we get here?"

"I dragged you here," Eddie replied, looking grumpy and put-upon. "Through the damned forest. You're paying for a new pair of pants, dude. And you're a lot heavier than you look, Grimm."

"Thanks," Nick only said quietly.

"I could hardly leave you there."

"You could, actually."

"That thing would have had my head. I like it where it belongs. On my neck." Eddie started to pace the room. "I never saw one of these creatures, nor heard of them."

"My aunt has. Or so it said, right? So it should be in the book."

Eddie frowned. "The big book of creature knowledge."

"Yep." Nick drank some coffee. "What day is today?"

"Saturday."

They had started their little forest adventure on Friday. Nick had taken a day off for the 'hike'. Rubbing his hands carefully over the bite mark, Nick gazed at nothing. He had no idea why the thing had wanted Eddie dead, why it had felt inclined to protect a Grimm. It were moments like these that he wished Aunt Marie was still alive. The heaviness, the darkness, the sadness, it all rose and the weight was pushing him down. She had been his surrogate mother, she had raised him, had made him who he was today. The cancer had been bad enough, but she had died because she was Grimm, months ahead of her time.

"Hey."

Nick looked up and blinked, suddenly aware of Eddie so close. The wolf regarded him with a quiet understanding that was eerie.

"Hey," he answered roughly, quickly swallowing his now luke-warm coffee.

"Want me to get you home?"

Home wasn't really home any more. It was a place to crash. Juliette had moved out, had moved on. Being a Grimm… Aunt Marie had told him to 'get rid of her', he had fought it, but this life took its toll. The job offer in Chicago had been the final nail in the coffin of their relationship. Nick didn't want to leave Portland because of so many reasons, so Juliette had packed up and gone.

Another loss.

It was a life he would have to grow used to.

"Earth to Nick."

"Sorry," he murmured. "Just thinking. And I should go," Nick decided. "You don't need this. I'm sorry about what happened. I shouldn't have asked you to come."

"It was about time I got to come," Eddie snapped. "Usually I'm the Nose or the Bait." This time he had been bait, too, without even knowing it. "It's about time I got some Grimm action."

Nick tried a smile and failed. "First and last time, Eddie. I don't want to be responsible for you getting hurt."

"I can very well take care of myself!"

"I'm going," Nick insisted.

He got all of three steps before his body decided that wishful thinking wasn't all it was cut out to be. He fell heavily against the desk, clock parts rattling on the desk top, and swallowed a curse.

Eddie gave him look of fond exasperation. "You're a Grimm, not Superman. I don't mind you crashing here for another day."

It sounded like the truth and Eddie looked rather serious.

"I'm a Grimm."

"Well, duh."

"In your house, Eddie."

"Duh again. Get your scrawny ass up there before I have to haul it back to bed. You weigh a ton!" he complained.

"Do not."

Eddie grabbed him by one arm and more or less did it anyway. Nick was too exhausted.

"I'm just not getting paid enough for this!" the blutbad muttered as he more or less settled Nick in the guest bed.

"You don't get paid at all."

The brown eyes narrowed, the scowl deepening. "My words."

"Start a tab," Nick mumbled through a yawn.

Eddie's reply was lost to him as he fell asleep.

x x x x x x

The next time Nick woke it was early evening and he felt a lot better. So much that he ventured downstairs again where Eddie was working on a clock. The wolf only cast him an appraising look, then went back to work.

Nick settled on the couch, strangely at ease with the whole situation, and picked up today's newspaper.

He dozed off after a while.

x x x x x x

Dinner was a vegetarian stew. Eddie woke him with a careful prodding, ready to jump back should Grimm instincts flare.

They didn't.

x x x x x x

They settled on the news and later an old classic movie.

x x x x x x

Eddie lay awake for a long time after going to bed. The scent of Nick was everywhere, like it had never been different. He could almost feel the presence of the other man and it didn't make his hackles rise.

Damn. This was getting worse and worse.

Because as weird and strange as it was, it was also becoming eerily familiar.

Trouble. He had known it from the start. The Grimm was nothing but trouble.

x x x x x x

Nick went back to his own place on Sunday, looking for all the world like he had never been bitten by some obscure forest creature.

Life went back to normal.

At least as normal as it would ever be able to get.

But Eddie knew things were changing around them. Nick was different. Nick wasn't a true Grimm. Well, not the one from the tales of his parents and grandmother. He didn't kill on sight; and the others had noticed.

Eddie had noticed. A lot. And things were quickly spiraling out of control for the blutbad when it came to Nick Burckhardt.

x x x x x x

Nick drove to the trailer that day, pouring over the book that contained so much that it blew his mind. He paged through it, ignored the terrible images drawn by his ancestors over the past decades and centuries, until he reached a very early entry. Very little was written, the words illegible to the point of being no words at all, and faded. The drawings were of the forest creature with the mossy skin, the black eyes, one even with bark-like skin and claws. Fangs for teeth, the jaw apparently extendable like a snake's, and there was also a four-legged version of it. Like some weird mix between a tailless big cat and some lizard-like thing.

Waldgeist.

A forest spirit.

Nick frowned. Childhood tales didn't describe forest spirits that way. Then again, fairies had been severely idealized through various animated films.

What little he could decipher confirmed that the waldgeister were on the Grimms' side, protected them, even went with them should a Grimm need their help. But they could also simply disappear, without a trace and without a word, for years or more. If that happened the Grimm they had chosen to aide had either left their territory or had died.

Nick wondered if Aunt Marie's waldgeist had disappeared already; whether the one who had protected him against the perceived threat of Eddie had been Marie's.

And whether he could go into the forest and find him, talk to him, get an idea of what the creature was, because there was so little known about them. One page, more drawings than text.

Spirits in every sense of the word.

Closing the book he reached for another, very old hand bound volume. He had leafed through it several times and it had been hidden behind a row of novels that had probably never been read. He opened it and continued where he had left off the last time.

Catching up on creature world lore, specifically one particular creature: the blutbad.

x x x x x x

He ended up in the forest a week later. The wound had disappeared, he felt no lingering weakness, and at work the healing injury hadn't bothered him. It had been a slow week, with a lot of legwork and no real results in their latest case. Nick didn't break with his routine of dropping by at Eddie's place now and then for a beer. The blutbad didn't stop complaining about Grimms leeching off his food.

Nick didn't ask him to come along into the forest. He wasn't sure the waldgeist would actually want to talk to him if he was accompanied by a blutbad.

So here he was, in the middle of the damp, rich smelling green, feeling more relaxed than he should, almost at peace.

Just like the moment before the waldgeist had sank its poisonous teeth into him the last time.

Nick settled on a fallen tree and waited.

For an hour.

Then something moved and he was surprised that his instincts didn't tingle or alert him in any other way.

The forest creature was suddenly there, as if it had been the whole time. Black eyes regarded him solemnly.

"Hi," Nick said carefully.

"You know who we are now."

It was a statement. Nick nodded.

"Waldgeister."

"An ancient name, but the only one the Grimms call us by."

"Do you have your own?"

"No."

"So waldgeist is okay?"

"Very much. Why are you here, Grimm?"

"To apologize for my behavior," he said. It was the truth.

"You defended yourself and someone you trust."

"But you don't trust him."

"Blutbaden are vicious and inherently violent. The one who was with you has your trust and he exhibits protectiveness, so he might be different. A rare example."

Vines moved around the moss and grass covered feet. One crawled close to Nick and he watched it, fascinated.

"We don't hurt Grimms," the waldgeist stated.

"So I read. Why?"

"You are protectors. The hunt came later. Some of you overdid it. Others follow your original purpose." The waldgeist gestured at everything around them. "I protect this. I don't care about the humans or the non-humans. Only Grimm feel like kin."

"I don't understand…"

"You were bred to be what you are. Grimms are the natural answer to the creature world."

"Bred?" he echoed.

"Yes. An elite. Meant to be what you might call a criminal profiler, to keep the balance between humanity and the non-human creatures among you. To protect the innocent. The ability to see the creature world was filtered and strengthened throughout the centuries. Sometimes Grimms would actually interact with a creature on a more intense level. Some pairings produced very powerful Grimms."

Nick stared. Pairings? Elite? What the hell? Aunt Marie had given him so little information-wise and everything he had learned had only confused him more. The waldgeist wasn't helping. Actually, it made his head hurt.

"The problem is that within a blood line it takes the death of one to activate the power of another," the waldgeist went on. "Marie's waning life unsealed your abilities, Nick Burckhardt."

He was reeling. "And my bloodline is…"

"Strong. Very strong. Marie Kessler was formidable, a tale of fright and death to the creature world. Her sister married a Grimm and you were their offspring. You are equally strong, maybe even more so."

"But… I don't even understand half of what's going on!" he protested.

"Because you are new to your heritage. It will settle in time."

"I wish there was a handbook," Nick muttered.

The waldgeist regarded him silently.

"Did Aunt Marie have a waldgeist, too?" the detective asked, switching topics.

"We can't protect all the time, Grimm. We aide if we can. Marie Kessler was too far gone for us to intervene."

Which either meant distance or regarding her health status. Everything was extremely vague.

The forest creature suddenly looked past Nick and the vines snapped up, looking threatening all of a sudden.

"W-what?" Nick stammered, hand going for his weapon.

"He's here."

"Who?"

"The blutbad."

"Eddie?"

"At the fringe. Hovering."

"Don't hurt him!"

"You truly trust him."

He nodded, sliding slowly down the fallen tree. "Instinct. I know it's hard to understand, but I know he won't hurt me."

The black eyes were unreadable. "He won't follow you here, though he can smell you, unless you call out for him."

Eddie had come why? Worry? Nick hardly thought so. They were kind-of-friends and the wolf kept making his point repeatedly that it was simply business. That he wasn't Nick's sidekick. That he expected payment of some kind for his services. Still…

The beers. The morning coffees. Sharing a meal; breakfast. Hanging out in a bar or in front of the TV…

Nick raked a hand through his hair, messing it up a little. Eddie was more than a tool for him, more than business. He genuinely liked the blutbad, their heritage be damned. Aunt Marie would call him crazy and probably do something terrible to Eddie, but Nick didn't think the other man would turn against him.

Instinct. Trust your instinct, she had said.

He did.

So far it had served him well.

Turning back to the waldgeist Nick blinked. The forest creature was gone; no trace of him anywhere.

"Thanks," he said softly.

No sound other than the forest answered.

So he made his way back, slowly picking his way through the undergrowth, following a game path. Eddie appeared when Nick hit the main path, looking a bit frazzled, eyes running over him, checking for injuries or whatever. He appeared almost manic, like he had been running a ditch into the ground close by, deciding whether to go tearing into the woods or not. His nostrils flared, taking in Nick's scent, and his fingers were flexing.

"What are you doing here?" Nick asked calmly.

"Trying to decide whether to wring your neck now or later! You just had to go back! Trust your stupid luck that the thing is benign?"

"Kinda, yeah."

"You Grimms are more stupid than you look! Or maybe you're the new breed!"

"Eddie, he's a good guy. He didn't kill me when I was defenseless. He wouldn't kill me now."

"Some creatures like it when the prey fights back," the blutbad snapped, red tingeing the dark eyes.

"They are protectors. But I'm flattered you worry about me."

It got him a low growl and the taller man turned on his heels, stalking away. Nick wondered what the blazes was going on and followed. Eddie simply folded his tall frame into Nick's car, arms crossed in front of his chest, clearly sulking.

"I'm sorry," the Grimm finally said.

Eddie glanced at him, grunting.

"Aunt Marie told me to trust only my instincts. I did. Still do."

"Did your instincts tell you to come here without your trusty lupine backup?"

Nick smiled. "I didn't think you would want to come here again."

"I don't. And I would have made sure you wouldn't either."

"Eddie, I'm touched."

It got him a warning growl and a brief look of a blutbad about to go creature on him. Eddie had never changed completely or more than a little shift in the face. Nick knew that he could. Because of the book. He had seen the jagerbar as a bear and she had been very much an animal then. So Eddie would be a wolf if fully shifted.

"I thought you didn't want to be my sidekick," he remarked as he pulled out of the forest.

Eddie harrumphed.

Nick waited.

Nothing much came and he decided to drop the subject matter. However Eddie was rationalizing his behavior, Nick was simply glad he had this kind of help.


	3. Chapter 3

It seemed normal to head to Monroe's home for an early dinner, one that consisted of a lot more vegetables than meat. While Eddie did eat cooked meat, he tried to stay away from the temptation of medium rare or rare.

Tomorrow Nick would be back at work. Hank wouldn't know a thing about his weekend adventure. The wound had healed. No trace left. Whatever the waldgeist had done, it had been very effective.

"It said I was bred to be a Grimm," Nick murmured, pushing carrots around his plate.

Eddie scowled at him. "So?"

He shrugged.

"Listen, we all were bred to be something. I'm a blutbad. No chance to change it. You're a Grimm. Mortal enemy, yadayadayada. It's in our genes. Would I want to be something else? Maybe. I could do without the whole red thing. It's bothersome. Instincts are fun as long as you don't get whacked by a Grimm."

He gave Nick a quick, humorless smile.

The other man didn't react as he had hoped. He looked lost and far away. "It also said some Grimms had children with you guys."

Eddie lowered the fork with the broccoli he had tried to eat. "Blutbad?" Confusion and something else, something hard to define, flooded through him.

"No. Well, I don't know, actually. Could you and a human woman have offspring?"

"How should I know?" he exclaimed. "I'm not sowing my wild oats!"

Nick quirked a little smile. "I was wondering where Mrs. Monroe went off to."

"Mrs. Monroe is my mother and don't even go there."

"I won't."

Eddie looked up from his plate again, face hard and reflecting anger. "If you have to know, look up wolves. Blutbaden aren't that different in that regard, aside from the pack mentality. We're really not that good at that. We don't fuck around, we don't chase after girls, unless they wear red, and I have a hell of a lot respect for a blutbad woman who'd rather rip my throat out than become a mate."

Nick met the irate gaze, eyes wide, surprise reflecting in them. "Uh, okay…" he stammered.  
>Gone was the powerful Grimm. Welcome confused human detective.<p>

"I didn't want to pry into personal matters," Nick added apologetically. "It's just… the whole pairings thing threw me off… looks like some family trees feature creature parents. No idea if mine does, too. The waldgeist only said that both my parents were Grimms."

"Wow, that's harsh. Double feature." Eddie regarded him closely through narrowed eyes. "That means you're super-powered, or what?"

"No clue. Might be worth digging into my family history."

Eddie harrumphed. "I know I wouldn't want to root around mine. Nasty stuff, even for us. Glad that's no longer my problem."

"No more Thanksgiving dinners?"

He chuckled wryly. "Not since we reached adulthood. Old blutbaden get really territorial when the sons try to come home. Daughters are tolerated for a few days, but only without male companions and/or their own young. With everyone else all bets are off."

Nick gazed at him, expression quizzical. He clearly remembered a remark about family. Eddie refused to be baited and he dropped it, still pushing his food around.

"You gonna eat that? If not I'm going to charge you for wasting my veggies."

He pushed the plate away, not really hungry. "Send me the bill."

Monroe shook his head and finished his own meal.

x x x x x x

Nick went home after dinner and a beer. The house was empty, devoid of anything that reminded him of Juliette. He didn't need memories. He didn't want them. Living a normal life now seemed like a fairy tale. He was already thinking about selling the house, getting something smaller. Not a trailer, no. He wasn't planning on becoming that mobile. He had a job. He had his life here.

Nick went up the stairs to his bedroom and stripped.

This was what being a Grimm meant. Being alone. Fighting something only a few were truly aware of. That was why he wanted Eddie's friendship. To talk to him, to have some normalcy in his life. A last shred of it anyway.

Nick smiled wryly. Sharing a beer or coffee with a blutbad, a wolf creature, who could kick his ass and rip him apart; calling that normal. Yeah, right.

Which led him right up to the next stupid idea Eddie would probably snap at him over: physical training; fighting. Because Marie had been incredible, had moved in a way no lady of her age and in her condition should be able to. Nick knew he had to learn that.

Fast.

Maybe he should ask Eddie for a lesson or two.

x x x x x x

Of course Eddie called him all kinds of names and refused. He was a lot stronger than Nick and he had ripped a guy's arm out in the basement of the hospital, which he reminded Nick of again and again.

"And I trust you not to do it with me."

"No way, Grimm. Go look for someone else to use as a punching bag!"

"I think I'd be the punching bag in that match."

"Your kind really is masochistic, right?"

"Eddie, please. I need training."

"You're a police officer. You are trained."

"Not when something a lot stronger than me whacks me around!"

"Then you shoot it."

Nick ran a hand through his hair, messing it up.

"Oh, right," the blutbad rumbled. "Unethical, right? Immoral. Ingrained cop stuff. But you're a Grimm." He stabbed a finger at his chest. "Things want to kill you. Better find a loop hole in that rationale and use it." He leaned in close. "Face it, Nick. You either get past that or you are the past."

Nick stuffed his hands in his pockets and slumped back.

x x x x x x

Eddie looked at the other man. Nick seemed lost in thought, eyes a little unfocused. He understood where the Grimm came from, but Nick had to understand that he wasn't Marie Kessler. He was Nick Burckhardt. He needed his own style, his own way of dealing with matters. How he had handled the past situations had been different from his aunt. And it had worked.

He told him so.

Nick looked up, the young face filled with doubt. Eddie really wanted to whack him over the head.

"Just stay as you are," he said gruffly, then held out a bottle of beer. "Brew?"

Nick eyed the bottle, then gave him a lop-sided smile. "That almost sounded like a compliment." He took the beer. "Thanks."

"It wasn't. And you're welcome. The next one is on you."

"Sure."

Eddie chose his favorite seat and slouched into it. Nick followed, slower, thoughtful, still not really convinced. It took almost the whole bottle for him to relax and let go of this obsession.

"I can hear that brain rattling around," the blutbad remarked.

"Sorry."

"And it won't get better, Nick. Let. It. Go."

An explosive sigh answered that.

"Oh, you Grimms are really high maintenance," Eddie groused.

"Sorry again."

He glared and let a growl escape. Nick's smile was unapologetic this time. Okay, maybe they were finally on the right track.

"And I'm easy," Nick added slyly.

Eddie huffed, refusing to be baited by the words. They could mean a lot of things. It was just him reading more into them. "Right. Ever since you barged into my life, man-handling me, claiming I was a bad wolf, things have been rather complicated."

"You invited me in when I came back."

Eddie regarded the Grimm through narrowing eyes. He had, that much was true. He still had no clue why. He had taken the enemy into his home, actually exposing himself to someone who might be a predator in prey's clothing, just waiting for a kill. And he had started to like Nick.

His life had been nothing but complicated since. And troublesome. And a lot more fun, he had to confess.

"Everyone makes mistakes," he muttered.

"Glad you made this one. I really appreciate the help."

Eddie just frowned at him, trying to find subtext and failing. He wasn't that perceptive, to be honest. Something was happening here and he felt it, his beast instincts stirring, but he was way too careful to just follow their lead. Right now this was a way too fragile moment and their relationship wasn't that defined yet.

He could wait and see if more clues dropped.

Even a blutbad could be patient when it came to the hunt.

x x x x x x

Nick left for his own home not much later and Eddie watched him through the window as he drove of.

Yes, Nick was trouble. But also fun. A Grimm and trouble, but entertaining and fun.

Huh. His life had really changed.

x x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x x

Two months later the Grimm surprised him by selling his house and moving into a smaller one. Eddie had to appreciate the way the building had been chosen. A large plot, not too many trees, easy to maintain and also a lot easier to defend should something want to sneak up. Nick had already installed locks that were pretty high standard and when Eddie helped move some stuff – and complaining about being cheap labor – he found that his friendly neighborhood Grimm had also stocked up on weaponry.

"Overkill much?" he asked, gingerly handling a sword-like weapon.

"My inheritance."

Eddie understood. Inheritance in more ways than one. He put it back into the sturdy box it had been in and closed the lid. Nick stored it and they went downstairs where the kitchen chaos greeted them. Nick managed to start the coffee machine and while Eddie preferred his luxurious roast, he accepted the cheaper, slightly less tasty liquid.

There was still a lot to do inside and it looked like Nick was preferring the minimalistic lifestyle. There was, of course, a flatscreen TV and a couch, some shelves, but that was about it. He peeked into the bedroom, which held no female touch at all and was functional, and there was an office room and an extra guest room.

Eddie didn't remark on how close the house was to his own neighborhood. How conveniently they were located in relation to the other. He also didn't mention Nick's tendency to hang around Eddie's home, eating his bagels or drinking his beer. Nor did he even think about remarking on the missing mementos from Juliette.

He simply kept his mouth shut and watched.

Time would tell where all of this was leading. The whole trust thing, their friendship, their partners-in-creature-fighting relationship.

Eddie only knew it would be interesting.

x x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x x

Being a Grimm meant Nick was always in danger of some unhappy creature trying to kill him if he got into their way. That on top of regular police work resulted in more bruises and scrapes than before, though he hid the supernaturally received injuries as best as possible.

It was just Eddie's luck that he was Nick's go-to guy if things got hairy, and Eddie wasn't refusing any longer. Oh, he groused and grumbled, but he helped. He pulled some nasty looking shard of something crystal out of a wound, grimacing and doing his very best to ignore the wince and hiss of pain. He rehydrated a half-conscious Grimm after something vicious had tried to suck the life out of him. And he let Nick sleep as he fought to rid his system of a mind-altering drug.

All part of the service.

Sitting silently next to the bed in Nick's house, feeling strangely familiar with the place, he watched the other man sleep. It had taken long enough for him to throw up whatever that creature had forced into him, and Nick had been exhausted afterwards.

Eddie tried not to think about it. The problem was that his brain wouldn't shut up.

He left early in the morning before Nick woke, deep in thought, his inner wolf confused and drawn between going back and refusing to see Nick ever again.

He shocked himself by marking his territory – Nick's home – outside, in the garden, in different areas.

Heavily confused, Eddie quickly got home and locked the door. He leaned against the wall, staring at nothing.

"Shit," he whispered. "I'm so screwed."

x x x x x x

It turned out he couldn't just ignore the other man. Nick came to him again and again. He asked for help, for knowledge, for simply companionship.

Eddie gave it like before.

But things were changing faster now.

x x x x x x

Eddie got a first clue how fast matters were progressing when a case went wrong and Nick's partner lay on the street, knocked out cold, while Nick was trying to talk down a hedgehog creature that was bristling with spines. He had already received several lacerations that looked like knife wounds and the scent of blood was heavy in the air.

Human blood.

Nick's blood.

Red.

The blutbad snarled, fangs exposed.

The problem was that these creatures tended to run in gangs and the six members were right now closing in on the hapless Grimm.

Eddie took down the first with a sharp blow to the side, getting cut for his troubles, then whirled on the second and drew sharp talons across his chest. The creature howled and bent over. Nick shot another in the leg despite having a bigger target in the abdomen or chest.

He was tackled to the ground for his generosity of not killing the hedgehog scum and Eddie's instincts went haywire when he heard a cry of pain.

Red clouded on the edges.

Nick rolled around, using his training, his instincts, and pushed one off, only to be viciously backhanded and going down again.

The blood egged the blutbad on.

Nick was still not giving up. He was one resilient little Grimm and Eddie had admired him before for that. The longer he was doing this job, the more his abilities surfaced.

One of the creatures grabbed Nick around the throat and squeezed.

Eddie let go of his control and the blutbad jumped into the fray.

x x x x x x

When it was over, Nick was leaning heavily against a parked car, clothes ripped and bloody, in bad need of an emergency room.

Three of the gang were dead. The other three had crawled and limped and hobbled away, much worse off than the Grimm.

Eddie crouched in the middle of the mess and only straightened when it became clear that they were alone.

He licked his fangs.

The enemy was gone.

Nick was already calling for back-up and an ambulance.

Their eyes met.

The blutbad shivered at the intensity, at the very Grimm looking at him. This was what lay beneath the handsome exterior. This was what Nick was; everything, condensed in this one moment.

"I'm off," Eddie rumbled, still very much wolf and unable to calm down enough to let those traits disappear. No one but Nick could see him anyway.

He quickly left, emotions in an upheaval he hadn't felt in a long, long time.

He took the long way home.

It took a while to calm down enough. Eddie hadn't felt this way since he had started his strict regimen. And strangely enough, it wasn't the hunger for red, for flesh and blood, for tasty and plumb girls that had him shakily prepare a calming tea. It was the memory of Nick. Of the Grimm. The power that was still developing and oh-so dangerously real already. It was the scent of his blood, his sweat, his… very self.

Eddie nearly burned himself with the tea and cursed.

He was utterly, utterly screwed…

x x x x x x

Nick was there the next morning, tired after working through the night, his hands cleaned and stitched up, and three days of medical leave firmly enforced by his captain. Hank Griffin had a mild concussion and couldn't remember a thing.

The blutbad let him in, immediately taking in the familiar scent and looking over the younger man. The bruises against the Grimm's neck stood out and he felt his finger's twitch. Not to wrap them around that vulnerable throat and squeeze as his kind should do when faced with the dangerous profiler. No… not at all.

"Coffee?" Eddie asked, and no, his voice wasn't squeaking just a little bit.

Nick gave him a half smile. "Sure."

His movements were heavy, leaden, like he was about to fall apart. Eddie frowned and pushed him toward the living room, muttering about coffee stains and Nick paying for them.

The detective simply gave him another half-smile and gingerly sat down, placing his mug on a coaster on the coffee table.

"Thanks, by the way. I never thanked you for saving my life."

Eddie scowled. "And again, no gift basket. I wouldn't have to constantly save your ass if you decided to go fully Grimm on the bad ones."

"They aren't violent by nature."

"Oh, sure. And we blutbaden are puppy dogs," he scoffed.

"They were thrown out of their territory, they were chased into this town, looking for a way to deal with their loss…"

"And one killed two humans. He got violent. It's your job to stop those things from spreading! As a cop and as a Grimm!"

Nick gazed at his bandaged hands. "As a cop you try talking first."

"As a Grimm that can be a very bad idea," Eddie said harshly.

"I know. Which is why I'm thankful you were there." The gray eyes were suddenly curious. "Why were you there, Eddie?"

Because he had followed Nick after giving him the information Monroe had picked up about the rogue hedgehog gang. Because he no longer turned and went back home or for a drink after handing over information. Because he had stopped being a casual informant who didn't want to be involved.

"You are trouble, that's why," he answered instead and busied himself putting random things away. "You attract the bad stuff."

"Guess that comes with being a Grimm. Not that I'd know. I never found a lot on Grimms. Aunt Marie kept meticulous info on everything but us."

Eddie stopped and gave the younger man a disbelieving look. "And you wonder why? Geez, dude! You don't keep anything on your own kind that the enemy could stumble over and use to their advantage! Of course she kept your secrets hidden! Who wouldn't?"

Nick gingerly rubbed his head, wincing when his hands hurt. "Yeah. I guess."

Eddie huffed. "You guess," he muttered, secretly watching the other, not liking the lines of pain and exhaustion in the pale face. "Of course you guess. It's all you do."

Nick gave him a soft smile. "I got you for the rest."

The smile threw him and he quickly turned back to sorting books back into the shelves. Something inside him curled with anticipation, but he fought it down.

x x x x x x

It didn't take long for Nick to fall asleep.

Eddie stared at the man on his couch, eyes lingering on the wounds, then going to the relaxed face. Sharp cheekbones, more prominent in the pale face than normal, the dark hair, longish and falling across his forehead, and the light hint of stubble.

Trust. So much trust. Falling asleep in a blutbad's home.

His fingers itched to do something, anything. He picked up a blanket and covered the detective, then forced himself to step away. Far away. If he could have, he would have left the house. But leaving was not an option. Nick was in no condition to be left alone.

Since when had he become the resident guard dog?

Eddie set to work on a clock, listening to every sound Nick made, sharp ears registering the change in breathing. His thoughts were whirling, his emotions unable to settle.

His attempts at repairing the delicate device were half-hearted at best and he was distracted by the soft sounds of his guest. He finally set down the pieces and simply watched Nick.

He would have to come to a decision soon. Either stop it or finally act on the Grimm's wordless offer. It could only go two ways: either he had misread everything so far, every little detail in the past months, which would probably get him a Grimm treatment. Or he was right. And then all bets were off.


	4. Chapter 4

Somehow it didn't come as a surprise that Nick invited himself for Thanksgiving two weeks later. Eddie was no longer surprised by so many things since the other man kept showing up all the time. It was like Monroe had given him an open invitation. Well, he had in a way. Nick kept coming back. And Eddie kept letting him in; closer, oh so closer.

On Thanksgiving he showed up with a bag of food items and a very nice bottle of red wine. It was a particularly nasty day, with icy cold rain, wind, dark clouds churning across the sky since morning, and more bad weather to come. Temperatures had plummeted and Nick looked thoroughly cold and damp.

"Would it kill you to use a raincoat?" Eddie sighed. "And now you're leaving puddles!"

It felt normal to complain, all the while feeling this urge, this need. Complaining masked everything else he wanted to do, or might accidentally say.

Nick undressed, hanging up his wet jacket. "Sorry. I thought I could make it here between showers."

"There's no 'between' today, detective! It's been raining all day long! What do they teach you in detective school nowadays?"

Eddie watched him as Nick walked into the kitchen, knowing exactly where to place what, where things were located, and it struck him that whatever it was between them, it was a lot more than Eddie had ever thought could happen. A whole lot more.

It was growing at an exponential rate and right at this moment, he thought it was stronger than ever before.

"I was hoping, that was all."

The wolf stirred as he watched the other man, dressed in faded jeans, a black shirt and a leather jacket, which he had worn underneath his thick winter coat, and it was hard to think straight. It wasn't like that damned state of mind his kin called blutrausch. A rush of blood, almost like the roh-hatz of the jagerbar, but with a varied outcome. It was something else. Something equally primal but less destructive. Not like seeing red; more like seeing what he desired.

Nick turned, looking at him, those gray eyes suddenly intense and very much like the Grimm he was. Calm and collected, waiting, a predator taxing another. Eddie clenched and unclenched his fingers, nostrils flaring.

Male blutbaden didn't go into heat. That was a purely female matter and the blutbaden females were ferocious. Right now Eddie thought he knew what it must feel like, this kind of conflicting desire, wanting something but fighting his instincts. He was acutely aware of the danger these thoughts were leading to. It might be the last thing he ever did.

"Eddie?"

Softly voiced, not really a question, feeling like an invitation. He took another step forward, sizing up the smaller man, knowing this could end either way. Nick wasn't a rookie Grimm any longer. Not like months before. He knew what to do and he would do it.

If he was misreading this… if he was interpreting everything completely and utterly wrong… it would destroy a friendship Eddie had come to treasure. Nick had been the first friendly contact in years. He had become a friend. Sure, they had started out on completely the wrong foot, with the arrest and the false accusations and the search of his home and all. Sure, Nick had first used him as an informant on the creature world. And yes, Eddie had grumbled about it.

But it had taken off from there.

To this very moment in their lives.

Eddie felt torn.

Nick leaned back against the kitchen counter, fingers curling around the counter top, an open an inviting gesture. The expression in his face hadn't changed and his eyes… Eddie shivered… the eyes were like deep pools of raw emotions.

The kitchen was small and now, with the two of them inside, it had grown even smaller.

What came as a surprise to himself was the split second decision when Eddie pushed the unresisting man against the kitchen wall in one inhumanly fast and fluid move.  
>He stared into the young face, saw something deep in the gray eyes that ignited a hunger that was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Eddie crushed their lips together. Superior strength kept Nick in place, though Eddie was aware that if his little Grimm had read up on matters, Monroe might not survive this.<p>

But Nick went with the program. There was no protest, no defense, just shared aggression and pent-up lust. Seven months of dancing around each other, picking up tiny hints and finally translating the subtext, led to the frantic coupling that left the blutbad panting for more and Nick not even trying to hide his own need.

Eddie didn't think. He didn't think about who was underneath him, who was pushing into his touch, who was moaning in pleasure. He stared at the exposed throat, felt a thrill course through him, wanted this man completely and fully and forever.

Sharp teeth sank into soft skin.

Blood ran over his tongue.

The creature in him didn't howl, it almost purred and rumbled in pleasure at the taste. No blood lust, just pure need, reined in by something deeper, something profoundly powerful.  
>This was what he had smelled before, what had been tainted by pain and poison. Now it was pure and luxurious, only for him, given, not taken. No pain, just pleasure.<p>

Eddie couldn't but react almost feraly when Nick returned the favor, blunt teeth leaving reddish indentions in his neck. The growl coming from deep within his chest was terrifying, but the Grimm didn't run or fight.

He looked at him.

A wordless challenge was uttered.

So he had read up on matters, huh? Good for him.

The wolf approved.

It would be so much more fun with a willing partner.

Clothes were shed and Eddie almost lost it when he finally saw the Grimm naked. He didn't ask if the other man was sure about this. Nick must have found some information in whatever Auntie Marie kept on blutbaden and their behavior.

And when he turned, clearly offering, Eddie knew he was completely at the Grimm's mercy.  
>Pushing deep inside the willing body, reveling in the groan, Eddie licked at the mark. The blood tasted like honey, like nothing he had ever… well, not since he was reformed… and not even before then… never like this… freely and through lustneedwant… it was simply completely new and enticing.<p>

He rumbled, feeling the creature in him push forward as he took his very human Grimm to completion. A very flexible, willing Grimm. Someone who answered each thrust with a sharp hiss, pushing back, urging him on.

It became a hard, frenzied rut that too quickly came to an end when Eddie came hard, burying deep inside the willing body. Nick was panting, fingers like claws trying to dig into the wall, and Eddie could smell that he had spilled, too.

The world was a very small place at the moment, consisting of Eddie and Nick, of the strong scent of their arousal. The blutbad buried his nose against the sweaty neck, gently teethed the skin without breaking it, and he felt Nick shiver.

The other man turned, catching his lips in a much more gentle kiss than before, but it had nothing soft, nothing female to it. It was strong and masculine and slightly dominant.

The inner wolf rumbled, his interest still piqued, the need not yet sated.

Nick's touch, running over his chest, had him shift back to fully human. It was like a shock to his system and quite calming.

"Wow, you can do that?" Eddie murmured, pleasantly mellowed, exhilarated and still very much aroused.

"Apparently." Nick smiled at him, lazy and satisfied. "Wasn't in any of my books."

"You looked this up." It was almost an accusation.

His books. No longer Aunt Marie's. Part of Eddie noticed the words, but a much bigger part wanted to do a lot of good things with his Grimm. Very good things. Like discovering how often he could bring him off. Blutbaden had a lot of stamina because once a partner was found – and females were truly, truly scary – mating was a matter of repeated copulation in as quick a time as possible.

"What I could, yeah. Research."

"And you played me."

"No. I… I didn't know if it was a good idea."

Eddie growled. "It wasn't. Losing control isn't pretty when it comes to blutbaden."

"Not when the partner knows what to do."

And not when the partner was an equal. Or maybe a Grimm. At least a Grimm who wasn't about to go all slayer on him.

"Did your research tell you that I won't allow you out of bed for a while?"

It got him a smile. "In a way. I think the gist of it was that I might not be able to walk for a while."

"Damn right," the wolf snarled.

"Speaking of which…" Nick shifted a little, still trapped between the wall and Eddie. "A bed would be very nice." The smile was almost too much. It addressed a very primal part of Eddie. "If we can make it," Nick added.

Looking at the handsome man, those expressive eyes that promised things Eddie had been hungering for, the blutbad knew he had lost on all fronts.

x x x x x

They did end up in bed after a while. Eddie took his time appreciating his partner and Nick wasn't really submissive to him either. The man was demanding and while Eddie got a deep thrill out of pinning the Grimm to the mattress, careful not to exceed too much pressure – he didn't want to break Nick's bones – he was even more aroused by the fight he saw in those intense eyes.

The next hours were rather… wild. And pleasurable. Oh so pleasurable.

x x x x x

Nick stood in the small bathroom, gazing into the mirror. Gray eyes looked back. His eyes. Just like before. No change. The same face, the same hair. He didn't look like a wolf and he didn't feature any other creature marks.

Only one.

The bite on his shoulder. Red and bright and standing out against his paler skin.

Eddie's mark on him. Eddie's claim to his body.

Nick felt a shiver of lust curl through him. The thought of the other man, on him, in him, with him, had him want to crawl into the bed again and repeat what they had done last night.

Again and again.

Everything had been leading to this; one moment when everything had been decided. The moment when Eddie had crossed that imaginary line and the wolf had staked his claim on the Grimm.

Not that Nick had fought it. He couldn't freak out over the whole thing because, yes, really, he had wanted it. He had offered and he had given and Eddie had, in his own way, given him ample time to escape. Instead, Nick had surged forward and pushed and pulled and urged the blutbad into this.

Like a short-circuit reaction.

No regrets later. None at all. He wanted more and he wanted Eddie. He had wanted him to lose control, to be what he was.

Another shiver raced through him, arousal in its wake.

He had read up on blutbaden, but there was very little known about them outside the weak spots and the killing and their extreme reaction to girls wearing red. Small footnotes had hinted at certain things concerning mating and procreation and general sex.

Nick had run with it.

And hot damn, it had been incredible!

"I'm screwed," he whispered.

Because this was like something he had always wanted without even knowing it; like something that had been meant to happen.

He touched the bite mark, the skin tender, already scabbing, and there were deep cuts where the canines had punctured. He followed the clear line of teeth, then let the hand fall away.

Nick hadn't minded. He had looked at Eddie, the red eyes bright and filled with lust, and he knew that his blood had opened a door. That the taste had unleashed the wolf. And he had trusted in the few lines in the ancient book that a blutbad wouldn't tear apart the one he was about to sleep with.

The Grimm ran his fingers through his already unruly hair.

Yes, he was screwed. Utterly, utterly screwed. He wanted more and he wanted it to stay; he wanted Eddie completely and while Nick was far from a submissive in bed, he wouldn't mind another round like last night. The ache this morning had been a sharp reminder of the wolf's possessive nature and stamina, but hell, he would roll on his belly and ask for more if Eddie so much as gave him an invitation in any way.

Screwed.

x x x x x

When he woke the next morning, Nick moved gingerly and Eddie watched him with a satisfied smile on his lips, drawing the younger man close when he came back from his bathroom run, knowing fingers brushing over sensitive areas.

Gray eyes flared. The danger in them was again more arousing than terrifying.

That was the moment Eddie Monroe knew he was lost. And in trouble. Deep, deep trouble.

Nick swung a leg over the seated man.

"How masochistic are you Grimms?" Eddie asked, voice low, a rumble coming from deep inside his throat.

Nick's eyes slid shut part way when he pushed two fingers into the still slippery hole. "A lot," he moaned, hands clenching into Eddie's shoulders.

The blutbad was ready for more and though his partner was clearly only human, he couldn't refuse the offer. Not when it was given so enticingly. Not when the slender, lithe body of Nick Burckhard, naked and smelling so arousing to his sensitive nose, was there for the taking.

He slid into the hot depth with a groan, almost choking on it when Nick sat down fully, sheathing him to the hilt.

"Damnit!" Eddie hissed.

Nick's expression was far from apologetic. He looked almost too pleased with himself. Eddie wanted to say something, but the power the Grimm held over him was back; in those eyes. The blutbad reacted to the perceived alpha male and he grabbed the slender hips, grinding.

Nick's eyes rolled and he threw back his head with a moan.

Eddie lost it. Completely.

x x x x x

Rough breathing was the only sound. Nick was a limp weight halfway sprawled over Eddie. The blutbad was seeing stars and his blood was sizzling with the climax that had washed through him. He had a possessive hold on the smaller man and his claws were still out. He was extremely careful not to break the soft skin, but he couldn't stop teasing him.

Nick regarded him from hooded eyes.

"Got it out of your system?" Eddie murmured.

"No. You're there for good."

The kiss was sloppy, filled with unspoken emotions, and Eddie used his superior strength to roll Nick onto his back, looking into the handsome face.

"You really are masochistic," he stated.

"No more than you."

"I can blame a mating rut."

Nick chuckled, eyes dancing. "Riight. Even I know that sounds just wrong. You're not a rabbit. I'm not a female blutbad."

Eddie grinned. "No, you're not. You're a lot more fun. And you haven't tried to kill me yet."

Nick ran his flat hand over the blutbad's chest. "Why would I?" he murmured.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Eddie exclaimed.

It got him a chuckle. "No. Never. I like you very much alive." He curled his hand around the other man's neck and pulled him into a kiss.

Eddie answered it, let himself get pulled further down and he enjoyed just listening to Nick's heartbeat, the soft thump relaxing, calming, almost soothing. The Grimm's fingers carded through his curly hair and he would have purred if it wasn't so unbecoming of a big bad wolf.

tbc...


	5. Chapter 5

Nick Burckhardt was homicide, which meant a lot of death wherever his job took him. He saw bodies on a regular basis, saw all the evil in this world. He had to talk to friends and grieving relatives, had to handle emotional upheaval and court, and he had to balance that with his private life.

Cops and marriages rarely worked out. Police work came home with the officers, involved their private lives, their families, and what was once love soon became nothing but tolerance and finally a co-existence that ate away at them.

Being a Grimm was no different, just with an edge, a completely different angle, and a lot more stuff coming after oneself. Grimms didn't stand out as what they were; only a few creatures could detect them immediately. Like blutbaden.

Seeing what no one else could took control not to react to it. Nick had learned that quite quickly, and he had learned to expect the creature world to be part of whatever case he might be given by his captain.

One such case involved several dead young men and women found over a period of time, all without papers, all illegals. All had been killed by breaking their necks. No other injuries had been found. No drugs, no abuse, no old scars or any kind of evidence of prior conflicts.

At first Nick and Hank suspected gang related matters, but that didn't pan out. They coordinated with the gang specialists at Portland PD, but the victims had no ties whatsoever.  
>Nor did Immigration have any leads, though they got involved quite fast when it became clear that all nine victims so far belonged, apparently, to the same family and none had papers. Strangely, there were no other clues to illegal immigration either. Then the tenth body washed up at a garbage dump, again with a broken neck. Nick and Hank canvassed the neighborhood of the dump site and finally got a small lead, which had them question a dozen people with no results.<p>

Except for Nick catching a glimpse of a creature. One that had disappeared fast and he hadn't been able to catch it. A woman. About twenty. Worn clothes and large eyes, that was all he could remember.

Eddie had kept his ears on the ground, trying to help, and when Nick showed him a sketch – he was a very good artist – of what he had seen, it became rather clear all of a sudden. It wasn't a real face, more like a caricature of a bird's head. Large, black eyes, beak-like nose, high forehead, and feathers.

"Taubenschlag," he said, handing back the sketch. "Haven't seen them in a while. Working class, really low on the ladder. Think: bottom rung and further down. The creature world sees them as cheap labor and messengers. Disposable. And quite simple."

The anger in Nick's eyes took him aback. "No one is disposable, Eddie."

He took a step back, raising his hands. "Whoa, easy there, Grimm. Only saying what I know. I only met them once or twice. Really simple-minded, believe me. They do what you tell them to do. Others use them."

"They were kids, Eddie! Someone killed them for some reason and I want to know why!" Anger radiated off Nick in waves. "They were simply dumped, like garbage. No one saw anything, heard anything, wants to know anything!"

"Been to their nest?"

"I've tried to talk to some families. They didn't want to get involved. Some outright refused to open the door." Now the anger led to frustration. "They're scared and I can see it. I can see them."

"Flightless, rather on the simple side, and easily convinced to do whatever another doesn't want to do. Nick, they've always been like that. Taubenschlag are prey in every sense of the word. Anyone can take them out."

The gray eyes flared. "Which doesn't give them the right to do it!"

"Of course not."

Nick folded the sketch and grabbed his jacket. He stalked out of the house and Eddie watched him, undecided. Maybe he should go after the Grimm, apologize. Then again, he had nothing to apologize for. Taubenschlag were stupid birds. Everyone knew it. The Grimm had to learn that some things were different in the creature world.

And judging by the air of danger Nick radiated, the air of Pissed-Off Grimm, it might be best to give him time to cool down.

x x x x x

He didn't see his little Grimm for a week straight after that and when he finally went by Nick's house, it was late on a Saturday night. Nick was home, looking tired, frustrated, like the world was his enemy. His eyes were haunted and he radiated an air of danger that had the blutbad itch.

Eddie hovered in the door, undecided whether to really walk into the place and risk a Grimm going all-out slayer on him at the wrong word, or simply disappear again.

Looking at the slumped shoulders, the pale face, the unruly hair and the day's stubble, he closed the door and locked it. From the inside. He would risk it. Nick had yet to hurt him and Eddie wasn't defenseless. He might have a chance should he become the punching back. Then again, the detective wasn't a violent man and would probably only verbally lash out.

"We found the guy," Nick said, holding out a beer.

Eddie took it. He saw two already empty bottles and a third half-empty one in Nick's hands. Oh great. Drunk Grimm. So much fun.

"And?" he probed carefully.

"Human. He exploited them and disposed of those who got in his way or asked questions. Apparently Taubenschlag aren't inherently dumb."

"I never said so," the blutbad muttered. "I said 'simple'."

"Well, they aren't. Not all. The flock is gone now. All of them. No more nesting in Portland."

"Which only solves one problem, you know. They'll find a new nesting place and everything begins again. And there will be a new flock coming in one day. Maybe the old one returns. They tend to forget where bad things happened. It's just them." He shrugged.

Nick didn't answer, simply took a long drag from his beer.

"He killed ten, Eddie. Ten! Three of them children, two teens, five adults. And I think he did the same before, maybe another city. There are, of course, no records. Immigration handles the rest. We got our part done. Not that it will do any good. They were Taubenschlag and not Mexican or Cuban or whatever. No one will find any trace and they'll be files. Dusty, forgotten files."

His voice was emotionless all of a sudden, maybe even a little bleak.

The wolf had no idea how to act. So he didn't do anything, just let Nick talk, rant, complain, snarl and bite.

In the end, after the fourth beer and throughout what was the most idiotic remake of a classic movie Eddie had ever seen, he fell asleep on the couch. Eddie ran gentle fingers through the longish, dark strands.

This wouldn't be the last time. Nick had a lot to learn about the creature world, about all the different species, and he had to incorporate his job as a Portland PD detective. Because he wouldn't give that up; not because he was suddenly a Grimm.

x x x x x

Nick was back to normal the next day, though with a hangover. He gave Eddie an apology over coffee, which the blutbad waved off.

"Nothing to apologize for," he only said, enjoying a fresh bagel with cream cheese.

Things went back to normal after that. Translation: Nick came to him for creature intel, Eddie grumped about it and finally gave a hand. Well, sometimes.

And there was the sex. The really, really good and intense sex. With a Grimm.

Geez!

x x x x x

Nick drove out to the trailer that day. He had yet to tell Eddie that it a) existed and b) where it was. This wasn't about trust, more about keeping the blutbad as uninvolved in the deeper matters of being a Grimm as possible.

The book had very little on Taubenschlag people, mainly because they were so unimportant and simple. Aunt Marie had collected several volumes on fairy tales and the creatures within, and whenever it came to pigeons they were messengers or helpers. Never a danger, never aggressive.

Nick found some smaller notes, written in an unknown hand – definitely not Marie's. There were drawings and more remarks about the simple-minded creatures that others used to their advantage. He looked at the drawings, at the bird-like creatures, their big eyes, and he remembered the dead kids. All those deaths.

Senseless! They had let themselves get killed like animals!

Nick closed the book and leaned back, scrubbing his hands over his eyes. All of this didn't sit well with what he believed in, what he had sworn to protect and uphold as law. No one deserved this. No one!

x x x x x

He went to the empty, condemned house that had served as the nest for the Taubenschlag, looking through the rooms. There were old mattresses, blankets, pillows. The windows had been haphazardly covered in what might be called a curtain. It was a tattered blanket. There were no personal belongings left, not a scrap of clothes. Everything was gone.

A noise alerted him and he almost drew his gun on the old man. The man raised his skinny arms.

"I'm sorry I startled you, officer."

"You're Carl." He had met the man on the street.

"I saw you come back."

"Just a last look." Nick gazed around.

"They might come back one day."

Nick's eyes narrowed and he looked at Carl. He hadn't really gotten a good idea of who this man was, but he suspected he belonged to the creature world.

Now the crinkly face pulled into a smile, showing yellow teeth. "You think you know what I am, don't you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I know who you are, Grimm. Your name proceeds you. I didn't want to believe that one had arrived in Portland. Yet, here you are."

Nick felt the tension rise.

"I mean no harm, please," Carl tried to soothe him. "I knew the Taubenschlag flock. I tried to warn them, but it's in their blood to obey. It could only end in pain and blood."

"What are you?" Nick asked, voice level.

"No one. Just no one. Let the matter rest in peace."

And then he turned and walked away. Nick blinked, briefly seeing a long, mouse-like tail, then Carl had disappeared.

He sighed softly and shook his head. Whatever his feelings were, he had to close the case for himself, too. It was over, the perp was in jail, and the flock had left.

Nick didn't see a single soul as he drove off. Everyone was hiding.

Case closed.


	6. Chapter 6

Eddie didn't think of them as mated. He had no experience with mated pairs; he had never really gotten into the whole mess of wooing a potential blutbad partner and trying not to get mauled when she didn't like him. With Nick the sex thing was great, actually. The Grimm was quite adventurous and the wolf in Eddie loved his taste and smell and sounds.

Letting Nick return the favor had surprised him at first, but then he wasn't alpha material. Mating an alpha was fatal. Mating a beta or a lower rank was normal. Eddie actually enjoyed it a lot.

No, they weren't mated, at least he didn't think so. The relationship was just like before, the banter and the easy companionship and Nick asking Eddie for help. It was simply very much fun to fuck the younger man across the kitchen table in the morning or let himself go as Nick delivered an impromptu blowjob. He was really good at that. Eddie nearly shifted when those teeth scraped over him.

Nick played with fire and he played well.

They were strangely good together. A Grimm and a blutbad. Nick's little waldgeist protector had mentioned Grimms pairing with the creature world, so it was possible that the whole killer edge was attractive to others, too. Not just Eddie, who liked to look at the mark scar he had left on Nick's shoulder and sometimes almost got off on it.

But that didn't mean mates.

Nope.

x x x x x

"I think I know what your bloodline got enhanced with in the past," he rumbled when they separated after another wild ride.

Nick blinked, looking deliciously dazed and rumpled. "Hm?"

"You mentioned Grimms maybe intermingling with the creature world, dipping into that gene pool."

It got him a frown.

Eddie rolled on top of the smaller man, grinning wolfishly. No pun intended. "You're the most annoying, attractive, desirable, exasperating, trouble-attracting, wonderful, sexy creature I know. And I've been a around the block a few times. I could keep you in this bed forever and have my wicked way with you."

He teethed a path down the willingly exposed throat, feeling Nick's interest rise.

"I don't believe blutbaden are meant to mate with humans," he went on, gently teething a nipple, drawing a breath. "Especially males. Not that we don't have gays, mind you. But you, my little Grimm, are intoxicating."

Eddie twitched his hips forward.

"So my guess is that one of your ancestors strayed a little, maybe added some Ziegenvolk to your blood line."

Nick laughed softly. "Really? Ziegenvolk? Why?"

"Because I can't keep my hand off you, Grimm," he growled. "I could fuck you all day long!"

"And you think that's pheromones?" Nick surged up and took his lips into a hard kiss. "Newsflash, Eddie: it's called attraction. Nothing creature-worldly about that. Or did your line stray as well?"

"I hardly think so."

"Hm, good. Or maybe not. Because I want you to fuck me all day long."

The hunger in those gray eyes was intense and Eddie grabbed the wandering hands, holding Nick in place as he stared down at the other man, the Grimm, who was smiling provocatively. Challenge. Always the challenge. The inner wolf was rumbling to be let out, to accept, and he wanted this so badly, he felt talons emerge.

"You like to play," he breathed, voice deepening.

"Only with you. Because I trust you."

Eddie couldn't shy away from the challenge. The blutbad wouldn't back down from this.

And taking the Grimm was like an addiction he couldn't shake. Every single time he was aware who was in control; not him. Never him.

But he didn't care.

x x x x x

Laying awake, watching the other man sleep, Eddie let his eyes wander over the smooth skin, the nicely defined muscles, the quiet strength. The bite mark was bright and fresh, appeasing the beast in him, and he licked his lips. There were no other marks.

He had really worn him out, he mused with a grin. Not that Nick was lacking stamina. Right now he was only lacking clothes and it was a sight the blutbad liked very much. That and his smell on the Grimm, his mark, his claim on the man.

Nick had known what he was getting himself into. And he had accepted it. Fully. With everything he was. Giving in and taking what he wanted in turn.

Shit, he was hooked to the taste and touch and sound and smell. Eddie leaned down, inhaling the musky scent, then gave in to his want and licked over the smooth column of Nick's throat. The detective moved, eyes opening, alert and ready for a possible fight, then the tension flowed out of him.

"You are insatiable, Eddie," he mumbled, but the evidence of his own arousal was hard to overlook.

Eddie grinned feraly and ran a teasing claw over the hardening erection. Nick shuddered, pupils wide.

"You love this," he rumbled. "You want this. You want me like this."

"Eddie…"

"Is this a Grimm thing?" he asked, keeping up the dangerous play. "Or a Nick thing?"

The other man bucked into the caress and hissed. "Fuck!"

Eddie dragged his teeth over the skin, not breaking it. "You bet your ass on it. Because it's mine."

Nick surged up into a kiss, delivering a bite when they separated, looking almost as feral. He looked… like the Grimm he was, like the man who had stood in the burrow, aiming a gun at the waldgeist, steady and calm despite the poisoning and the pain. So cold and controlled and dangerous…

Eddie shivered, feeling arousal despite the knowledge that this wasn't just a game, a tease. This was the power inside his lover.

His partner.

Mate.

Shit, yeah, okay, he was his mate.

And the blutbad sank into the welcoming heat, red eyes never leaving the powerful ones of his Grimm.

It was fast and hard, down and dirty, taking what he wanted with no regard to the danger of staking such a claim on a deadly predator like a Grimm. He reveled in the cry of completion, moved hard until his own climax finally raced through him, and he rumbled contentedly when he slipped free.

Neither man spoke, but they didn't need the words right now. Eddie listened to the strong heartbeat, eyes sliding shut when deft fingers played through his hair.

x x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x x

Nick sometimes wondered what Aunt Marie would have made of her nephew's 'alliance'. She probably would have called him an idiot and taken care of Eddie her own way. What Nick had been able to gauge from her possessions, she had been a cold hunter, a Grimm who shot first and asked questions later. Eddie himself had told him that Marie had been feared in the creature world.

In a way that hurt.

Because not all of them were vicious and violent and dangerous. And while Eddie fit the blutbad profile, he wasn't a danger to anyone but himself sometimes. Least of all for Nick.

Because he trusted him. Completely.

No, Aunt Marie would have skinned him alive for such a stunt, sleeping with a creature. Nick had been more than experimental in those moments, drawing more of the wolf out than might be safe, but Eddie hadn't harmed him. In a way it had cemented something between them, something unbreakable, and even though he now bore a mark, Nick didn't mind.

It had been his own decision, no pheromones involved, no coercion, no force. Least of all blackmail. It also was no longer pure lust, though lust was part of their bed antics. If they even made it to bed.

Nick didn't care what others thought. Hank might not know about Eddie just yet, and probably wouldn't for a while – he still thought Nick was mourning Juliette and Nick left him in that belief – but he wasn't ashamed of the blutbad either.

x x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x xx x x x x

That criminal suspects weren't really the most cooperative was a given. Anyone who kidnapped rich kids and killed whoever got in his way wouldn't just surrender. Nick and Hank knew that when they got into the whole mess and they hadn't expected it to be easy.

Nick pressed an ice bag against his forehead, wincing at the cold seeping into his skin, relieving at least a little of the pain as the area numbed. Hank was getting a knife wound treated and the paramedic was arguing with him to come along to the ER.

"Take him. He looks like he's about to faint," Griffin simply said, gesturing at Nick.

"No way," Nick interjected. "You're coming too. It was your fault."

"How was that my fault?"

"You opened the door!"

The pain hammered behind his eyes and the detective screwed his eyes shut with a groan.

"Both of you are going," the no-nonsense voice of Captain Renard intercepted Hank's answer. "And good work. Both of you."

Nick was too fuzzy around the edges to do more than accept the compliment. He let the paramedic usher him into the back of the ambulance, then the next thing he knew was the ER and a very capable middle-aged woman doctor was stitching the gash on his temple and telling him to keep using the ice bag to stave off further swelling. Pain medication was added to his list of things to do, then he was released.

Hank was waiting for him, his shirt ruined by blood and the tear where the knife had gotten him. He looked tired but relieved and satisfied that they had caught the creep. It hadn't even been a creature incident.

"Ready to go home?" his partner asked.

"More than ready."

"Renard told me to take tomorrow off. The report can wait twenty-four hours. Personally, I plan on spending that day in front of the TV."

Nick chuckled and winced a little as his head ached. "Sounds like a good plan for me, too."

They caught a ride with a patrol car, who dropped them off at their respective homes. Nick threw the bloody shirt in the trash. He regarded himself in the mirror with a sigh. He looked like he had hit a wall face first. In a way he had. Still, the satisfaction of nailing the killer outweighed everything else.

x x x x x

The way Eddie stared at him when the blutbad dropped by that evening unnerved Nick a little more than usual. Those dark eyes grew intense, nostrils flared, and he thought he saw a shade of red.

Oh great. On top of the headache and the general misery, he now had an upset blutbad to appease.

"Come in. Coffee?"

"Explanation," Eddie answered, pushing the door closed.

"Work-related scuffle."

"And?"

Nick sat down, tired but not enough to sleep. "And I got a wall shoved into my face by the suspect. We got him. End of story. Not everything's Grimm-related, so no, I didn't call for back-up."

Again the nostrils flared.

"It's my job," Nick added, straining for calmness. "It can get dangerous sometimes. Especially if the perp isn't willing to go quietly."

Long fingers flexed, then the red died down. Eddie rumbled briefly, then looked around the room, checking every corner. Finally he sat down, back to staring at Nick.

"Looks nasty."

"Hurts like hell, too."

"Grimms come with hard heads."

Gingerly rubbing over the bandage he sighed. "I don't think it's a Grimm thing. And like I said, it wasn't creature related. All human all the time."

"Need something?"

Nick looked at his friend… companion… lover… lover? It sounded so… weird. Not fitting what they had. Eddie was upset but valiantly trying not to let the wolf take over. Nick would have bet a month's salary that the moment he left, the blutbad would start marking his territory again. It was strangely… comforting.

"No. I got the good drugs. They just take their time to kick in."

"Want me to stay?" came the hesitant question.

He smiled. "If you want to."

Of course he wanted to. His mate was injured. Eddie sometimes cursed his blutbad instincts, but right now he gave in to them. Right down to marking his territory when Nick was upstairs and asleep.

tbc...

lil' Author's Note: I know the show called them Ziegevolk, but this just hits me completely wrong. Ziege is singular for goat, Ziegen is plural. So I added that little 'n'. Believe me, it sounds a whole lot better in German to make it plural. Rolls off your tongue much easier.


	7. Chapter 7

The revelation that Nick Burckhardt had played both sides of the fence even before Juliette didn't really surprise Eddie. The ease with which he accepted a same-sex relationship, the way he accepted full penetration or gave blowjobs, were indicators already.

"And you wanted the girl?" Eddie teased.

Nick shrugged. "Bi means I like both. At the time Juliette was the perfect partner."

Before his heritage had been triggered. Everything after that had been a complete mess. The companion of a Grimm had to know, had to be able to defend himself, had to accept. Juliette still didn't know and Nick had never planned on telling her.

The wolf's metaphorical ears pricked. "Back then, hm?"

Nick grinned. "Back then," he only said.

Eddie wanted to grab him and throw him against the wall, kiss him, taste him… The fact they had arrived at their destination, a run-down, decrepit building where Nick suspected a lizard-like creature resided that had been terrorizing the neighborhood and actually killing a guy.

"Nice," the blutbad muttered in disgust. "Smelly, too. You take me to the most charming places, Nick."

It was all business from here to the messy, shoot-the-creature end. Eddie let the Grimm handle the matter, his wolf stirring only once or twice as he watched Nick trying to talk the lizard-thing down. Always the talking, the soothing gestures, the calm voice… just the way he handled every encounter. So not Grimm-like. So very Nick.

In the end shooting the lizard was the only solution.

Nick hated it.

x x x x x x xx x x x x x xx x x x x x xx x x x x x xx x x x x x xx x x x x x xx x x x x x xx x x x x x xx x x x x x xx x x x x x x

He went back into the forest a few days later. It was a cold, damp and foggy day. The fog clung stubbornly to the trees, obscuring the view, giving everything a quite mystical air. Nick had bundled up in thick clothes, the cold biting into his exposed skin. It was also quite refreshing and the short hike to the spot where he had last seen the waldgeist was good exercise.

He met no one else.

He was completely alone.

Eddie didn't know about his little excursion and he would probably tear him a new one for repeatedly exposing himself to this kind of danger.

But Nick was a Grimm; danger was part of his job now.

The forest was eerily silent. Nothing moved, the air was saturated with water, the fog barely moving. He strained his ears, but he caught no other sound than the occasional drop of water falling from the trees and splashing on the leafy ground.

Nick waited.

He knew he was being watched. Waldgeister were the forest, their protectors, and he was a Grimm. He stood out and they could sense him. In a way he felt them, too.

So much had changed in the past months. He had read all there was in Aunt Marie's trailer. He had learned to handle himself, to use his gift, his ability. The way Eddie looked at him sometimes, a mixture of respect, lust and thrill, Nick knew that things had truly changed. It didn't mean he went out to kill. He was still a cop and he handled the creature-related matters the same way.

Grimms had been meant as peacekeepers, as profilers to understand the creatures and to make sure both worlds didn't annihilate the other. Because they needed each other. As Grimm he kept an eye on matters and only intervened if someone got out of line. He wasn't judge, jury and executioner in one. He was the police, in both worlds.

Something whispered through the forest, but no sign of a waldgeist. Nick thought he saw a shadow within the fog, but maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him.

Nothing happened.

The silence continued.

He finally decided that the waldgeist was ignoring him and slowly made his way back up the game path.

There was a brief warning, like a tingle of alarm, then something curled gently around his wrist, tugging him to a stand-still.

Nick looked at what had touched him.

A vine.

As thick as a child's arm and holding him with deceptive gentleness. It would probably be able to break all the bones in his wrist if he made a wrong move.

The vine tugged once more, then fell away, slithering around his ankles and laying still. Ready to trap his feet.

"Where are you?" Nick asked, scanning the foggy foliage.

"Everywhere," the voice he associated with the waldgeist he had met before could be heard.

The creature stepped out of the fog. "You came back."

He waited.

"Because you have learned about yourself."

"How much about whole pairing and breeding is true?" Nick demanded.

The vines snaked over his boots and disappeared. The black eyes blinked slowly and Nick thought the forest around him moved.

"You have an edge that others don't have. The first Grimms knew they had to breed this, had to maintain it. Even when your child's mother or father is not a Grimm, the trait is dominant."

"So a creature's traits would always be dominated by the Grimm genes?"

"Yes."

"Do you know what my family line incorporates?"

"No."

Nick chewed on his lower lip. "Are Grimms actually… I mean, by origin, human?"

"No one knows where the first one came from. You have always been there. The name was given to you after two brothers wrote the fairytales humanity loves to read today."

"They weren't the first Grimms, right?"

"No."

A vine brushed over his hand, another touched his shoulder in an almost-caress. Nick didn't flinch away.

"You and the blutbad have mated," the waldgeist stated.

Nick felt something inside of him bristle, but he refused to be baited. "So am I human?" he asked instead.

No answer.

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"You are a lot of things, Nick Burckhardt. Foremost a Grimm. And Grimms are part of the creature world."

He swallowed. "No one kept a family tree," he heard himself say. "I don't even know much about my own parents, let alone Marie. Why?"

"Knowledge is power. In the wrong hands it can be fatal. Like us you exist in secret. You keep records of the creatures you interact with, their strengths and weaknesses. From the beginning it was decided to purge the records of the Grimms."

"So I'm as much a creature as everyone?"

"No. You are very much human with the abilities you need to do what you have to."

That answered… nothing at all. Well, except for the little tidbit that his ancestry was rather mixed and that whatever his gene pool contained, it wasn't simply human.

The vines had disappeared, slithering back and becoming one with the forest, and the creature was almost obscured by the fog.

"Your alliance with the blutbad is a rare one, Grimm. Your trust in his loyalty even more so. Be careful."

And then it was gone. One blink to another and the waldgeist was just a memory.

Be careful? Why? Because the waldgeist thought Eddie might betray him? Kill him?

Nick didn't believe it. Something, maybe his instinct, told him that the blutbad would rather die himself than harm Nick.

The Grimm stayed where he was for a moment longer, then walked back to his car.

x x x x x x x

The drive back was filled with whirling thoughts, about his heritage, about his family, about his future. About Eddie Monroe.

Eddie wouldn't have been Eddie if he hadn't picked up on it when Nick had, almost like on automatic, gone to his place. He sniffed, probably able to tell exactly where Nick had been, and from the scowl that was just that.

A large hand pushed Nick against the wall, the dark eyes boring into his gray ones, and for a brief moment Nick felt like slapping the hold away and walking off. Emotions were churning and from the expression in Eddie's face the wolf was very much aware that he needed to tread lightly.

One wrong word and Nick would be gone. And Eddie might need an icepack for whatever bruise he might feature.

"Calm down," he rumbled.

Nick screwed his eyes shut, fighting with himself.

Eddie leaned forward, cheeks brushing together, his lips whispering against Nick's ear. "Whatever this thing said, it changes nothing." He buried his nose against the crook of Nick's neck.

Nick knew nothing could change. He couldn't change. He had been born like this and he would always be a Grimm. Knowing that there was nothing on his family history, on Grimms in general, out there hurt.

"At least you know your heritage," he murmured.

"Not a good argument," the blutbad answered, the hand on Nick's chest slipping around his waist, holding him lightly.

Eddie was still careful. Thrilled by the Grimm in his hold, but careful. Nick found it amusing that the big bad wolf got off on being with a human; who happened to be a Grimm. Or maybe it was whatever creature ancestry might or might not be in Nick's bloodline. Maybe he had some blutbad somewhere, maybe his ancestors had found some other creature highly attractive. He didn't really want to get into all that.

"I'm not proud of my family," Eddie went on. "Not at all. Even for blutbaden they went a little too far. I never knew my grandfather, only that Grimms finally brought him down. But the stories…" He shuddered. "Really bad."

Nick leaned up and kissed him, gently biting the lower lip when they parted. He felt Eddie's fingers press into his back.

The blutbad let his head fall against Nick's shoulder with a groan. "You bring out the worst in me, Grimm."

"Hm, so far I didn't think it was bad," Nick purred, running teasing fingers over the hair on Eddie's neck. The wolf shuddered. "It's actually fantastic."

"Only you would think that getting pounced by a blutbad and fucked senseless is fantastic."

He chuckled. "It is. You are. I wouldn't do this if I didn't want you to be yourself." Eddie raised his head and their eyes met. Nick relaxed against the wall, all too well aware that his whole posture screamed 'take me' at his partner. "And you want this, Eddie. You want me. The Grimm."

The blutbad rumbled a little. "You're more than that."

"So are you. But it gets you off in a good way." Nick pulled him close by grabbing a handful of shirt. "And me, too. You have no idea what you do to me, Eddie. None at all."

Eyes flared red as Nick slipped a hand underneath the loose shirt, warm skin under his touch.  
>"Screw whatever they bred into your ancestors," the blutbad said roughly. "I don't care."<p>

Their lips clashed, teeth nipping at softer flesh, and Eddie had to hold back not to rip Nick's clothes apart.

As it was, fucking his partner against the wall, hard and fast, was one way to calm down both of them. Nick simply let go, forgot all he had heard lately, had discovered about himself, and he simply felt. He felt Eddie. He felt himself. He let their shared pleasure erase everything.

x x x x x x x

"A warning, hm?" Eddie enjoyed the gentle caress of blunt fingernails over his back. Nick was drawing aimless patterns that didn't try to arouse.

They had made it to bed somehow.

"I'm not sure."

"Of me?"

"I don't know."

He turned his head, looking at the man at his side through narrowed eyes. "Do you think I would betray you? Sell you out?"

Nick stopped the caress. "No! Of course not!"

"Because I wouldn't," the blutbad grumbled. "I'm not that cheap!"

Nick leaned over him and kissed his neck. "I know you aren't. I trust you, Eddie."

A curl of warmth spread through his body and Monroe smiled. "You do," he stated.

With everything.

Nick gently bit one shoulder. The expression in his eyes was almost proprietary. Eddie knew the game when he saw it and his inner wolf was quite pleased with the current situation.

"I trust you," Nick repeated, voice soft, low, very intense. "Completely. Without question."

Eddie knew he was lost. Utterly. There was nothing he could say, though instinct yelled 'You shouldn't!' at the Grimm.

"I know I can," Nick told him, as if reading his mind.

Yeah, he could. Absolutely.

Words were stuck in his throat he couldn't get them out. Words that…

Nick kissed him. Slow. Sensual. Staking a claim like no one else had before.

The words weren't needed.


	8. Chapter 8

This was written before Let Your Hair Down, so I didn't know Monroe has this absolute LOVE for Christmas :)

x x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x xx x x x x x

Eddie had never celebrated Christmas in his life. Actually, it wasn't a holiday he wanted to spend anywhere outside. Too many girls in red. Even a reformed blutbad couldn't ignore instinct all the time. Red was simply a very enticing color and very, very potent..

He had done a few… well, a lot… of bad things throughout those seasons in his past. He wasn't proud of them and he didn't discuss it with Nick. The Grimm hadn't asked about it either. He had yet to sit Eddie down and demand to know about the blutbad's life.

Anyway, Christmas was a no-go. He refused to have a tree and he didn't leave his own four walls unless he really, really had to. His pantry was stocked like he was expecting the next biblical flood… or an earthquake… or some kind of epidemic.

x x x x x x

This Christmas felt different. Nick wasn't the kind to celebrate with family, seeing that he lacked it completely. He had planned on working that day and Eddie didn't stop him. The detective was rather busy the day before Christmas and didn't really have a quiet moment until almost New Year. Eddie didn't see him for three days straight and while he wondered, he tried not to worry.

He also told himself that he didn't miss having Nick drop in all the time, steal his food and coffee and/or beer. He didn't mind sleeping alone, with only a faint lingering scent of Nick around him. And no, he wasn't skulking around the other man's house at night, wondering where he was, what case he was working.

Eddie knew he was pathetic. Hopeless and pathetic. He had it bad and it wasn't getting better. Nick had gotten to him in a way no one ever had before.

x x x x x x

Nick came into Monroe's home – their home, he thought of it now because Nick tended to spend a lot of time here instead of at his own - exhausted, looking like something the cat had dragged in, and smelling of…

Eddie bristled.

Blutbad!

He was on the other man before he could catch a rational thought and only because Nick knew him didn't Monroe get a Grimm treatment. Eyes flared red and he growled.

"Eddie, chill," came the deceptively soft order. There was a core of steel that had developed in the past months.

It had an immediate effect. Like a command he couldn't but follow. He pushed back, still bristly, but he forced himself under control.

"You didn't call," he rumbled.

"Because I knew it would get ugly if you got involved. I handled it. It's okay."

But something bad had happened. Probably someone had died. Eddie tried not to push. He knew Nick would tell him eventually.

"I need a shower," the younger man said and pushed past him.

Eddie fought down the need to follow.

Instead he waited, pacing, hating the smell of another wolf on Nick, hating the fact that he hadn't been there, and annoyed that Nick hadn't called.

After more pacing he finally went and made coffee.

Nick took the mug gratefully when he came out of the shower, dressed in loose sweat pants and an old t-shirt. Eddie took an appreciative whiff, as well as a lingering look, and finally gave in to his need. He curled an arm around the slender waist and he kissed the damp neck, gracing his teeth over sensitive skin, and he Nick shivered.

"You should have called," he rumbled again.

"You know how it would have ended. Badly. I remember the first time."

"I'm better now."

Balanced. Mated.

Of course he would defend his mate, but just like he had learned to tolerate red, he knew he could face another of his kind without turning primal. At least on Nick. The other blutbad was another matter altogether.

"I know, Eddie, I know."

"So what happened? Missing girls again?"

"No. A simple shooting gone bad. The victim was a blutbad."

Eddie drew back, shocked.

"Not the intended target. The guy tried to kill his girlfriend because she had left him, but she ran and his aim was off. He hit an innocent bystander."

"A blutbad."

"Yeah. Thing is, she wasn't alone."

"Mated pair?"

"Yeah. He went after the shooter and things got even messier."

"He's dead?" Eddie asked tonessly.

"No. The shooter was pretty badly mauled and we don't know if he will make it through the next twenty-four hours."

"You let him go?" the blutbad asked, unable to keep the incredulity out of his voice.

"Yes, I let him go, Eddie," Nick replied, voice suddenly colder. He pushed away. "I didn't decapitate or shoot him. Is that so hard to believe?"

Eddie stared at the Grimm, so very surprised and suddenly more than a little tense. The inner wolf was reacting to the dangerous air the man radiated unconsciously. And he was reacting by backing down.

"No, it's not hard to believe, Nick," he answered. "But you're a cop and you keep telling me that creatures will be handled the same as humans."

"He didn't kill anyone. The shooter did. He killed an innocent woman." Nick ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head. "I don't know if you guys have better healing capabilities than a human, but even if she had survived… I think she might have been paralyzed for life."

Eddie swallowed hard. A handicapped blutbad was dead anyway. "We're a bit more resilient, but we don't regenerate. That's fiction."

He carefully approached the other man and when Nick didn't tense up, he allowed himself to caress one side. A feather-light, almost apologetic touch.

"I'm not surprised by what you did, Nick. It's what I've seen you do again and again. You're not a slayer. You respect the creature world."

Nick looked suddenly tired. Exhausted. This had taken a toll on him.

"Get some rest," Eddie advised.

Another sigh.

Eddie rolled his eyes. "I knew you would be high maintenance. What was I thinking?" he said, letting mock exasperation bleed into his voice.

"The sex is okay," Nick quipped.

"Okay?"

"Hm, you're saying I'm fantastic in bed?"

The wolf happily took note of the lighter side in Nick's voice. "I wouldn't say you are… I was more thinking of myself…"

"You're not that bad."

"What?"

"A little possessive."

"Pot - kettle."

Nick drew him into a lazy kiss. "Want to prove your prowess?"

"Not to a man who's going to fall asleep halfway through," Eddie told him with a frown, though part of him was sitting up and taking notice.

"Am not."

"I'm not betting with you. Shoo, bed."

Nick complied, which spoke length about his condition. He was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow, and Eddie watched him with a mixture of fond amusement and a trickle of worry.

x x x x x x

"You're still thinking about it, aren't you?" he asked over breakfast omelets the next morning, sharp eyes on the Grimm.

Nick didn't look at him, simply pushed some eggs around his plate.

"Nick."

Gray eyes met his.

"Why?"

"He wasn't a bad guy, Eddie," was the soft reply. "He didn't plan this because he's an evil monster. He reacted out of grief. His mate was killed."

"Does he know a Grimm let him go?"

Nick was silent, studying the mess of eggs and bacon on his plate. "Yeah."

"Must have been quite a shock for him."

"Maybe. It was… a bit hairy."

Eddie studied the hard lines in his partner's face, noted the tension in the slender body. Of course it had been hairy. Blutbaden recognized Grimms a lot easier than other creatures and the wolf Nick had let go would probably be unable to understand why.

"But you let him run away."

Silence. Then, "I'm not a killer. I said so before. He went after the shooter for revenge. It isn't a blutbad thing, Eddie. It's an emotional reaction."

The wolf studied his companion. A Grimm and a cop. Things got mixed together and maybe, just maybe, it was the middle way. Maybe this was what the Grimms had been in the beginning. Not just hunters or executioners.

"You did good, Nick," he simply said.

The gray eyes were wide and held a vulnerable air, but deep inside the Grimm was the unbreakable core. The hard, sharp edge.

"It was a senseless death. So many are. This time it hit a blutbad. How can I be sure that letting the man go might not make him a killer, Eddie? What if he starts hunting humans because of what happened to his mate?"

Eddie had no answer for that because he knew what he would do should someone kill Nick, accidentally or on purpose. Wieder-blutbad or not, he wouldn't care any longer.

Nick went back to shoving omelet pieces across his plate. He finally pushed away from the table.

"I need to run," he muttered.

Five minutes later Nick was heading down the street and toward the park, wearing warm running clothes against the cold, and Eddie watched him with a frown.


	9. Chapter 9

Running was a sport that didn't simply keep him fit, it helped Nick clear his head. He let his mind run free as his body moved through the familiar paces and he ate up mile upon mile through the forest park. The air was crisp and cold and it helped set him in the right mind-set again.

The case went by his inner eye again. He relived the moment he had found out who the victim had been and that the shooting had been an accident. He remembered the moment he had looked at the twenty-something boyfriend of the victim as he had to ID her in the morgue, and he had seen the blutbad emerge.

And when the young wolf had looked at him, the fear he had seen in those blue eyes had been real. Fear of a Grimm. Nick had tried his best to act normal, to let procedure take over, but in the end his heritage had intervened with his normal job. He had stopped Mark, the blutbaden, from killing their suspect, and he had let him run off. It would have been so easy to kill him.

He hadn't.

Nick hoped he had done the right thing.

Eddie hadn't commented on it, but the look on his face had been tell-tale enough.

The path took him in a slow loop, past ancient trees covered in lichen and moss, down past a small picnic site that wasn't in use throughout the colder times, and then curved gently back to the crossroads where all the paths intersected.

It was at the picnic site that Nick's hackles rose and alarms went off in his head. He stopped, breathing a bit rougher because of the pace he had set himself, and nearly went for his gun when someone stepped out between the damp bushes.

"Mark?" he blurted.

It was the young blutbad, looking just like he had seen him last. Jeans, hoody, old leather jacket, thick boots. The dark hair was tousled, the face pale and set in a mask of mourning and anger. Nick saw a glimpse of blutbad shining through and he wondered if maybe he should have acted differently. He shook off those thoughts.

He wasn't a killer!

"You're a Grimm," Mark said tonelessly.

"What do you want, Mark?" Nick asked, falling back on his cop training.

"Why didn't you kill me? Why did you let me go?"

Yes, why? He had nearly killed the shooter, who was still struggling to survive. Hank was looking into the attack and it was declared as suspicious accident, possibly with an unknown third party involved, but the blutbad had left no trace of himself.

"You're a Grimm!" Mark went on, red tingeing his eyes. "Your kind kills my kind!"

"I'm not a cold-blooded killer. You didn't kill the man. Your mate was just shot and you reacted emotionally."

Mark bared sharpening teeth.

"Do you want to die? Is that it?" Nick pressed on.

"She was everything to me!"

Nick swallowed at the raw pain in the other man's voice.

"And she wasn't like you make us to be! She wasn't a blood-thirsty monster! She didn't deserve this!"

"She was a wieder-blutbad?"

Mark anguish doubled and Nick knew he had hit the sore spot. It pained him to think of someone like his own partner getting shot because of some jealousy drama that hadn't even involved them.

"What do you want from me, Mark? Why are you here?"

The cold was seeping in now, but Nick refused to acknowledge his discomfort. He tensed when the blutbad took several steps forward.

"You're a Grimm," he repeated.

"Yes. We went over that. I'm a Grimm, you're a blutbad. And I won't shoot you or cut your head off. I'm not going to arrest you either if you leave now. There is nothing you can do to bring your mate back."

He bared his teeth again. There were definite signs of wolf in his face now. "What do you know, Grimm? You know nothing! All you know is to kill us!"

Nick raised his hands, aware that should Mark jump at him, he might not be fast enough. "I know a lot more, Mark. And I know grief and putting blame on someone. Your mate was a wieder-blutbad, she had sworn off killing humans, right? She wouldn't want you to kill for her, because of her."

Another step forward.

"Mark…"

"If I kill a Grimm, I might make it back into the graces of my family."

"You won't."

"You are the enemy!"

"I let you go because I believe that what you need if a second chance."

Another step.

"And you're young. Don't throw this away!"

"She is dead!" he howled.

And jumped.

Nick had no chance. Blutbaden were too damn fast and he was still too new at this. The weight of the other man slammed him onto the ground and he felt a stone dig into his back. The pain was secondary to the very real threat of death from the sharp claws and the fangs showing in Mark's mouth. Hot pain exploded along one bicep as the claws cut into his skin and Nick fell back on his training and his Grimm abilities, trying to push the other off. He slammed a hand hard against the large jaw, stunning the other, then twisted, trying to get out underneath.

The hand that wrapped around his throat stopped that maneuver and he fought for air as it squeezed. Mark's eyes were a manic red-orange, his features twisting more and more into the wolf that lay underneath, the inner beast coming out and going for the kill.

Suddenly there was a blur, a shadowy thing colliding with Mark, and he was tackled to the ground. Nick cough, rolled around and away from the blutbad, and drew his gun, pointing it at the young man, eyes quickly taking in the scene.

There was a vicious struggle, followed by several sharp yelps that were distinctly Mark, then the young blutbad scrambled away and sought safety with his back against a fallen tree. His eyes were wide, fearful, and he featured a few scratches that were mostly superficial.

Nick felt his heart hammer in his chest and his mouth was dry when he looked at his savior, a dark brown wolf. A huge wolf. A real, four-legged, shaggy-haired wolf!

"Eddie…" he breathed.

And how did he even know? How could he tell this was Monroe and not another blutbad?

He could. Like he had always been able to tell him from other shifted blutbaden. As if the shaggy wolf triggered something inside him.

The wolf was menacing, threatening, looking like a monstrous version of what Nick knew wolves looked like, and it radiated an air of aggression he had never felt from his partner. Red eyes bore into the young blutbad, who whimpered.

Nick holstered his weapon and took a step toward Mark, but Eddie got in his way, rumbling a warning.

"Don't," Nick only said softly. "No killing." He looked straight at Mark when he said that. "Don't destroy what your mate wanted you to have."

"She is dead!" he screamed.

"And I won't be your death, Mark. If you want to commit suicide, look for someone else," Nick said, voice dropping to a cold, harsh almost-snarl. The shift had Mark blink. "I won't be the default killer for a blutbad who can't accept loss! It won't be my bullet in your heart!"

Eddie's eyes had never left the other wolf and he was still snarling, showing very impressive fangs, his ears flat on his head and his fur bristling. He rumbled a warning as the other slowly got to his feet.

Nick tensed.

They were staring at one another, then Mark looked away, his eyes briefly straying to Eddie, then dropping his gaze altogether. Nick knew that the young man was alone now. He had lost his mate and family wouldn't be there for him. He was an adult and adult blutbaden didn't crawl back home. His parents would kick him out right away.

His wolf traits finally receded and he slumped, trembling.

"Go," Nick suggested.

Blue eyes, filling with tears, briefly met his. Then he ran off.

Silence filled the picnic site and Nick let the tension drain out of his body. A wet nose nudged one wrist and he smiled thinly at Eddie. For the first time he saw him as a wolf, a true wolf, and he felt amazement. Despite the fierce look. Despite the fact that he didn't really look like any wolf he had ever seen in a documentary or a zoo.

A large tongue licked over his hand and Nick noticed the blood. His own. Running down his arm. Eddie rumbled, the eyes intense and fiercer than he had ever seen him before. Nick checked the injury and wrapped his scarf around his upper arm.

Without another word, Nick took back to the jogging path. Eddie didn't follow. He disappeared in the park.

x x x x xx

He was there when Nick got home. His own home, not Eddie's. He watched Nick as he climbed the stairs to take a shower and he was still there when the Grimm came back down, hair damp, smelling of shampoo and soap, clad in loose sweats. The skin around his neck was red in places and he had apparently wrapped his scratches.

"You followed me," Nick said, grabbing a bottle of water.

"Good thing I did."

He sat down in an armchair, long legs stretched out in front of him. Eddie's eyes ran up the lean frame and Nick knew he liked what he saw. From the tension level the blutbad still radiated, he knew something would give soon. Blutbaden didn't get along and Mark had threatened to kill Nick.

To be killed by a Grimm.

"You think he's suicidal?" Nick asked.

Eddie snorted. "He's confused and emotionally volatile. His mate was killed and you didn't do him the honor of ending his life."

"He wasn't thinking straight."

"Blutbaden in that state of mind rarely do. Would you have shot him?" Eddie asked, voice level.

Nick was silent, playing with the bottle cap.

"Nick."

"I would have had to. Suicide by Grimm."

Eddie rumbled.

"You think he'll live?"

The blutbad shrugged. "If he gets past the grief. Mates are special. It's for life, Nick. That's not easy to lose. Finding another special person like that? Hardly possible. In that regard we are like wolves. He'll end up a loner. If you're lucky he won't turn up killing girls who wear red."

Nick gave his partner a dark look.

"Hey, just the truth. The guy who made it into the fairy tales? He was a loner. Big bad-ass loner. And you really don't want to know how that fairy tale really went."

Nick let his head fall back, sighing. "So I might run into him again," he stated. "And he'll be a murderous blutbad I have to kill?"

"Maybe."

Silence descended. Finally, "I never saw you after a full change. What brought that on?"

Eddie shifted a little, eyes darting away, then back to Nick. "Easiest way to follow you," he mumbled.

Nick gazed at him, sharp eyes taking in the fidgety moves. He didn't press on, but he felt that moment of awe and amazement again, seeing this large and powerful creature, knowing it was this man, knowing Eddie was there to defend him. He got up and walked over to where the taller man sat, settling over his lap.

Eddie carefully touched the marks on his neck, a frown playing over his features. His thumb ghosted over a scratch. Mark's claws had dug deeper here. Nick waited, letting the blutbad reassure himself that nothing was seriously wrong with him.

"Show me," Eddie murmured, glancing at the injured arm.

Nick stripped off the sweater and the bandage stood out sharply, white and clean, and smelling of antibiotics.

"I'll live," he said calmly. "And my shots are up to date."

Eddie stroked over the bandage, his eyes filled with silent anger and renewed fury.

"Eddie."

He looked up at the quiet, almost serene voice. Nick brought their lips together.

And no, he hadn't been wrong about that tension as those large hands slid up his back, as lips hungrily claimed him. Nick slid his hands through Eddie's longish hair, the bludbad's mouth exploring, tasting, nipping. Nick could feel canines lengthen and he ran his tongue carefully along the dangerous teeth. Eddie wrapped his arms around Nick's waist, pulled him closer, and he knelt over the other man, letting the hungry mouth tease his hard nipples and he exhaled sharply when a canine grazed the nub.

Eddie looked up at him, silent query in his expression.

It was okay. Completely okay.

A question burned inside the young Grimm, one he hadn't dared to ask because it would sound needy… like a teenage girl… and because their definition of this partnership, this relationship, was ever-changing. Seeing the red rims around the brown eyes, Nick let got of the question and simply fell into the moment.

Eddie was only too happy to stake a claim on him again, releasing the pent-up anger at the other blutbad's attack on what he considered his.


	10. Chapter 10

New Year's was a quiet affair. No wild party, no counting the seconds. They stayed at home, watching TV, and Nick brought him off with a blowjob that had Eddie pant and nearly rip into the couch with extended talons. The Grimm was a really talented that way. Well, not just that way.

When Nick, still seated between his legs, gazing up at him with a wicked smile, continued to fondle and lick his half-hard cock, Eddie let his legs fall open wide. The two fingers sliding up his ass had him groan. This time it took longer, was almost torture, and Nick took a great pleasure from the fact that he could stave off the second orgasm so long.  
>Yeah, the sex was fantastic. Something he wouldn't have dreamed about in his wildest fantasies. But it wasn't everything. It was the general feeling, the contentedness, the ease of their relationship… all that and so much more had Eddie stick to this one human being, his Grimm, like super-glue. He wouldn't give it up.<p>

Drawing the younger man into a gentle kiss, running broad hands up the slender back and delighting in the feel of smooth skin over firm muscle, Eddie felt his inner wolf rumble, pleased and placated.

Things would get bumpy, he knew. This wasn't all pink clouds and wishful thinking. A Grimm and a blutbad would face opposition, but he couldn't care less about what his family thought. He was related by blood and that was that. They had started to ignore him the moment he had started his strict regimen of control. Nick had two dangerous jobs and while he had a partner for the police business side, as a Grimm he was alone.

Well, mostly. The trusty lupine back-up was now firmly in place.

For better or worse, the humans said.

Eddie thought it was a very appropriate vow for them as well.

xx x x x x x x

Nick was called to a scene of a dead body found in a ditch off the highway a few hours later. He muttered briefly about inconvenient calls and threw on some clothes, then hurried off. Eddie didn't think much of it and went back to sleep.

xx x x x x x x

When Nick returned, it was with a solemn expression. He looked like he had slid down a mud hill and was in no mood to talk. He simply showered, changed, and went back to the precinct.  
>Eddie waited, able to be so very patient sometimes. Police work was part of Nick and it was a part he had to accept. If his partner wanted to talk about things, he would. If not, he would wait. Simple as that. If it was Grimm-related he would spill his guts to Eddie sooner or later. They always talked about such things because it helped Nick understand the creature world a lot better.<p>

Instead Eddie took a whiff at the shed clothes.

Blood. Death. And… blutbad.

His nose wrinkled, hairs on his neck rising. He growled unconsciously.

Damn! Not again!

xx x x x x x x

The detective was there for dinner, though his mood hadn't improved. Nick was pale, angry, and ready to bite whoever got too close. He ate quickly and silently, taking two phone calls while he was in the kitchen, and Eddie picked up a few words. Apparently Griffin was calling him about an update or two.

Not that it improved Nick's mood.

Eddie removed his presence as best as possible and decided that his own home might be more appropriate for tonight. He knew when it was too dangerous around the Grimm, whether this was Grimm-related or not.

He had learned a great deal about his mate in the past months. One was that the deceptively innocent and soft façade was just that: a façade. Nick might be a rookie when it came to creatures, but he wasn't weak or soft. He was quite dangerous and Eddie respected him immensely. Sometimes he wondered if, in blutbaden terms, Nick would make an alpha. The vibes he got off the man hinted at it. At least the hunter/predator came out strong.

And Eddie found that deliciously attractive.

Well, unless it was aimed at him. He wasn't stupid. Blutbaden knew when things were too dicey; at least the more or less sane ones.

Eddie thought of himself as sane and moved carefully if necessary.

So he went back home, fixed himself a nice soup, and spent the evening tinkering with an ancient clock. Part of his mind was going over what might be bothering Nick. He would find out in time.

xx x x x x x x

Someone knocked at the door while he was doing his morning Pilates. He went through the motions automatically, feeling calm and relaxed like he usually did when working out. Every wieder-blutbad had his or her own way of restricting their instincts, the craving for a kill, the need to chase girls in red. Eddie liked Pilates. Unless morning sex was available. He grinned at that. Yep, that helped, too.

He didn't really have to ask who disturbed his morning routine; he could smell it.

Opening the door he shot the Grimm a scowl. Nick held up a bag of bagels, smiling apologetically. Eddie let him in without another word.

"I'm not your doorman, dude. You have a key," the blutbad grumbled.

Nick didn't answer, simply poured himself a coffee. His face was closed off, but the eyes were, as cheap as it sounded, a window to his soul. And his soul was in turmoil. Eddie waited, hovering near the door, letting Nick set the pace.

He ran his eyes over the other man. Jeans, dark gray long-sleeve tee, boots, leather jacket thrown over the tee. Eddie liked the casual look. He knew he wouldn't be able to pull off the handsome sexy look like that. Nick was simply sex on legs sometimes.

Dragging his mind out of the gutter, he sniffed carefully. Nick smelled unharmed, but something was on his mind.

"It was Mark," the other man said after a while. "The call yesterday."

Eddie waited. His urge was to get closer, touch, reassure himself and Nick. His logical mind said 'sit and stay'.

"He walked onto the highway, right into a Big Rig truck. Lumber haul."

Eddie winced. That would do it. Kill a blutbad straight on.

"The driver said he simply stopped and looked at him. He had no chance to brake in time." Nick rubbed his eyes, gazing out the window. "No foul play. No drugs in his system. Not even alcohol. Suicide."

Damn.

"Hank and I were at his apartment. There were pictures of his mate everywhere. Her name was Sandra, y'know. Hank's trying to find his folks, but I guess that is harder than we think."

Eddie nodded wordlessly.

Gray eyes finally drifted back from the window to meet the blutbad's. The intensity made him shiver. Something inside him curled and trembled at the powerful expression, at the pain and the strength, at the door this one death had pushed open.

"What is this we have, Eddie?"

And the question. The damned question Eddie had seen in his partner's eyes so often before; one he had never dared to ask. The confusion over their relationship had enveloped them both and while Eddie thought of them as mates, he had never told Nick, nor had he acknowledged it in any other verbal way.

Sure, he had claimed him as a sexual partner. The bite mark was a clear declaration and if Nick had found any information on what tasting a mate's blood meant, he should know. Usually tasting prey meant an immediate rise of aggression that usually ended in torn out hearts and ripped throats. Eddie had never lost a thought about that with Nick. He had only felt the wildfire in his blood, the possessive bastard raising his ugly head, and the need to have the Grimm as his mate.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say it, but the words stuck in his throat.

"You're a blutbad, I'm human," Nick went on, looking into his coffee as if it held all the answers.

"Ye-es?"

Frustration was visible on the pale features. "What does that mean for us, Eddie?" he blurted. He squeezed his eyes shut. "Damn, I sound like a girl! I don't care what this is…"

Liar, Eddie thought immediately.

"But if it'll kill you…"

Eddie crossed the distance, unminding of the possible danger he was putting himself into, and pushed Nick against the wall. Somehow this was developing into a habit, he mused.

"Who you are, Grimm," he said sharply, "is Nick Burckhardt. Mostly a pain in the ass, but also my mate."

"Eddie…"

"My mate. My Grimm," he claimed. "You are mine alone!"

The gray eyes darkened and the Grimm responded like he had so many times before. A challenge, the refusal to submit, the need to know, and that power that had Eddie in awe. The claim struck a nerve in the hunter, a refusal to be bound to another life, but then there was Nick. And Nick's emotions were intensely powerful. He was wide open, needing to know, afraid of the answer.

"Mine," Eddie repeated more forcefully.

Nick bit his lower lip, arousal gaining in strength. "What I do… whether as a cop or a Grimm, it might get me killed. I don't want you to die."

Because if Eddie claimed him as a mate, like Mark and Sandra had been, the loss of Nick would destroy the blutbad's iron control. It would set free the monster and he would end up dead one day. Killed by a Grimm or the police or whoever shot him in the right place. Or he might end his own life.

"Then don't die."

"That's not so easy."

"It is. Don't die."

Conflicting emotions rolled through those eyes and Eddie brushed a deliberately gentle kiss over Nick's lips.

"My mate. I'm not going to run off after another blutbad, Nick. You're it."

"You don't know that!" came the forceful reply. "You're not meant to be with a human!"

"How would you know?"

"Blutbaden aren't in general attracted to their prey."

"Hm, maybe." Another gentle kiss. "Maybe it's just you. I am with you, Nick Burckhardt. You're mine. My Grimm. I'm with you and will stay with you to the very end." Another kiss. More a nibble. "Female blutbaden are wickedly scary. The kid was lucky to find a young one who didn't maul him on sight."

"Like you could find a female mate one day."

He nuzzled the mark against Nick's shoulder. "No," Eddie breathed. "I made my choice. I'm completely yours. You are mine, Nick."

The Grimm's hands dug into his sides, desperate, needy, the whole body trembling with the confusion the other man felt. Eddie smelled it all, Nick's scent sharp and pained. His fangs briefly pierced the upper layer of skin, the drop of blood filling his nose, the taste on his tongue reinforcing the bond between them.

"Why do you think I could look at you, all bloody and weak, and not take advantage?" the blutbad asked in a low, dark voice. "Several times in the past, actually. Why do you think I let you into my home? Why do you think I didn't go all blutbad on you for wearing that burgundy shirt? Why do you think you gave yourself to a deadly creature that might just rip your heart out? Why do you think I let myself fall completely for a Grimm?"

Nick was silent, studying his feature, expression strangely serious.

"Why do you think you can top?" Eddie added with a sly grin.

It got him a chuckle. "Because you get off on the Grimm thing. And I think a Grimm in dark red is two for the price of one."

"Hm, that too. I get even more off when I think of you under me, at my mercy, writhing in pleasure and begging for more." Eddie ran a sharp talon along the lean side, feeling Nick react. "Mine. Whatever they say, whoever says it, you're my little Grimm."

xx x x x x x x

The sex broke down walls Eddie hadn't been aware had still existed. It was like everything had led up to this, this last claim on a soul he had no right to but took nevertheless. And he let Nick see into his own soul, into the depth of the beast, and he saw the acceptance there.

Everything.

Completely.

The wolf freely took what was on offer and if the mattress now had tears, so be it.

Reddish teeth marks showed on Nick's shoulder and the scar would always be there, no matter what. It was a mating scar, deep but not dangerous, in a place where prying eyes wouldn't see it immediately.

His mate, ran through Eddie's head. His Grimm. A Grimm and a blutbad; the impossible.

He couldn't possibly imagine what Mark had felt when his mate had been killed and Eddie knew he wouldn't want to go on alone either. Nick was his life and he would go wherever he went, be it as a cop or a Grimm. Every other creature be damned.

The absolute trust and the unconditional love he saw in his mate's eyes took his breath away. Strong fingers ran over his neck, into his longish hair, playful, sated, lazy.

"I never told you about my family," Eddie murmured.

Nick's caress stopped. "No. And you don't have to."

"Yes, I do. We… this… what we have…" Eddie looked into the warmth reflected in Nick's eyes. "Sooner or later things will surface. Bad things. I want you to know them."

"Eddie…"

"I told you once… when we first met… well, the second time, actually… after you had me arrested…" He was rambling and Eddie stopped himself. He sat up, refusing to look at Nick. "Okay, I told you I wasn't that kind of blutbad any more. That I was done with the bad. And I did a lot of bad stuff in my past. A lot. Your aunt wouldn't have asked any questions and taken me out right away. Reformed or not."

Nick sat up as well, leaning against the headboard. "I know."

"You know nothing, Nick. You know I was bad. You don't know what I did. And I don't want you to hear it from whoever might have known me back then, or knows someone I knew. I want to tell you myself."

The Grimm's expression was serious, settled, expectant. Nick didn't touch him, just waited, and Eddie was so very, very glad for his mate's sensibilities.

So he began to talk. About his childhood, his family, his wild teenage years, and the bad stuff that soon turned to very bad, nasty, evil and outright vicious.

Nick was silent the whole time, listening, no judgment in his face, no disgust reflecting in it either.

It felt like a whole mountain falling off his shoulder, like the weight of the world. Talking about a past he wasn't proud of any more. A past that was filled with violence and blood and governed by instincts. He had done the blutbaden proud, but not himself. Never himself.

Nick regarded him, those damned eyes. sharp and knowing, the cop in him rivaling the Grimm. Eddie tried not to look away, but in the end he evaded the powerful eyes. If there had ever been any doubt who was really in control, despite Eddie topping Nick nine times out of ten, sometimes every single time, now there was no more. He couldn't hold that gaze without almost immediately trying to roll onto his back and surrender.

"Thanks for being this honest with me," Nick said quietly.

"Like I said, I'm not proud of it. And I didn't want anyone getting to you with the truth."

"You think it would make me love you less?" the Grimm asked, voice so sensible, reasonable, and damnably calm.

Eddie's brain froze at the words. Love? Nick really…?

Nick smiled slightly. "Even knowing that you killed people in the past can't change what I feel, Eddie Monroe."

"Uh…"

Nick grinned. "Speechless?"

"Uh…"

The Grimm leaned over and kissed his cheek, his nose, then his lips.

"You're a cop!" Eddie blurted. "How can you… how can you rationalize sleeping with a killer?"

"I'm a cop," Nick agreed. "And a Grimm. And I know you, Eddie. I know the man you have become. I didn't know you back then and the crimes you committed… the deaths you caused… while it's painful, I can't but accept it. You're a blutbad. It's part of you and actually part of your nature."

Eddie leaned back, shocked.

"You won't kill again," Nick told him. "Ever."

Unless provoked, Eddie thought. Unless someone threatened or hurt his mate.

"Nick…"

"Aunt Marie told me something. Don't doubt yourself. Trust your instincts. She said I have a responsibility I can't ignore, that my heritage is the reason why I became a cop. My ability sets me apart from everyone in the human world and the creature world. I never doubted you, Eddie. Those Grimm instincts told me to trust you. I came to you after seeing what you were, fully aware that you could kill me. You didn't. You didn't betray me to the other blutbad in the woods. You never ever gave me reason for doubt. In any way."

Eddie stared at his mate, mesmerized, caught, trapped… awed.

"I have a responsibility as a Grimm. I have sworn an oath as a cop. What you did falls into my responsibility as a Grimm. And I'm not a judge or jury. I'm your mate. I accept what you did as your mate and as a Grimm." He smiled, caressing Eddie's bearded cheek. "I hunt down the bad ones, Eddie. You're no longer a bad wolf."

The blutbad shivered, seeing the resolve there, hearing the sharp edge bleed through.

Nick kissed him, taking control, showing him what he felt, what Eddie meant. And Eddie wanted to be good, wanted to be a good mate, a good partner, generally good for Nick. Because Nick was the best thing in his life; ever.

fin!


End file.
